Lumbering was the main industry in the St. Croix River Valley in the second half of the nineteenth century. For many years logs were sent down the St. Croix river, collected at the St. Croix Boom Site two miles upstream of Stillwater, and processed in Stillwater's many sawmills. Steamboats were used most widely from 1860 to 1890, and a few are still used for entertainment today. 