This is an early picture of the ship yards on the Black River. In 1897, the shipbuilding industry moved to the east side of the river with the establishment of the Lorain year of the Cleveland Shipbuilding Company, the precursor of the American Shipbuilding Company. In 1898, they were the largest dry dock on the Great Lakes. On April 13, 1898, the first steel ship, the Superior City was launched. At the time, it was the largest vessel on fresh water.