Captain Reed moved his business from Brooklin, Maine, to the Northern Neck, and brought to the established community of watermen a method of extracting large quantities of oil from the fish, by rendering them by the millions. Their oil was used as a lubricant and in lighting, as whale oil was; and the leftover bones and carcasses were valuable as fertilizer. He opened the first processing plant. By 1885, Reedville was heavily engaged in the menhaden fishing industry. Menhaden processing factories on Cockrell Creek produced fish oil, meal, and fertilizer from menhaden. The menhaden fishing industry brought tremendous wealth to Reedville and to Northumberland County. Reedville, a town of approximately 500, was once known as the wealthiest town in the United States, due to its large income produced by the menhaden industry.