Old East Side Fishing Company Building

This building was constructed in 1917 by the Old East Side Fishing Company, one of the largest fisheries at the time. It's the last original fishery building in Port Stanley. However, this building was never actually used as a fishery since by the time construction was finished, the fishing industry was starting to decline. It was instead used as a place for storage and mending nets. The large windows were used as a source of light and heat. Today, the building is home to a variety of businesses. Although pound net fisheries were established in Port Stanley in the 1870s, it wasn't until the turn of the century that introduction of gill net fishing led to the rapid growth of the industry over the following two decades. By the 1920s, catches were declining, which led to an ongoing cycle of focusing catches on new species and eventually depleting a number of Lake Erie fish populations (a combination of overfishing, habitat destruction, and the introduction of invasive species). Nonetheless, a smaller fishing industry has persisted in Port Stanley to this day.