Strongly encouraged by John Couch, a sea captain who considered The Clearing a good site for a river port, they hired Thomas A. Brown in 1845 to plat the town. Brown and his assistant, James Terwilliger, a blacksmith, laid the town out more compactly than usual on a grid of 16 square blocks,  to a side.
John Couch, a sea captain who thought The Clearing would be an excellent location for a river port, persuaded them to hire Thomas A. Brown in 1845 to design the town's layout. Brown and his assistant, James Terwilliger, a blacksmith, created a more compact grid of 16 square blocks for the town.