Commerce on the River

Commerce on the River. . The City of Nauvoo was known as "Commerce" in the 1830s. Located on the westernmost edge of the American Frontier at the time and nestled on the Mississippi River, Nauvoo boomed and prospered as a center of commerce., Transporting Goods , The river is an ideal way to transport farm and industrial products to market. In 1913 the first lock and dam was built in Keokuk, IA opening up the upper Mississippi River to barge traffic. Colusa Elevator Company began operation in 1961 loading 500,000 bushels of soybeans and corn onto barges. Today, they transport some 10 million bushels of soybeans, corn, wheat and grain and store 3,400,000 bushels for area farmers., Ferry Service , In the 1840s, ferrying across the river was done by skiff from Nauvoo to Montrose, IA. Later, paddleboats were used., Commercial Fishing , The fishing industry in the 1830s included catfish, sturgeon, carp, bass, pike, perch, sauger, muskellunge and other fish. The commercial fishing industry was greatly curtailed in the 1960s by restrictive EPA standards and commercial fisheries., Icehouses , River ice was sawed into blocks then sledded to an icehouse and packed with sawdust, to be sold later for summer use.