The first mill in Sugarloaf Township was built alongside Fishing Creek in 1802, and another mill in the same township was noted for its buckwheat flour. A schoolhouse had been built by 1806. In 1818, John Barton built a flour and grist mill on Fishing Creek. It was destroyed by fire in 1855 and again in 1905. Although rebuilt, it burned down again in 1932. Another gristmill stood on the creek until 1830 when it was converted into a paper mill. Iron ore was discovered in the area of Fishing Creek in 1822, and in 1844, an anthracite-burning furnace was built on the creek near Bloomsburg. In the 19th century, an aqueduct was built across the creek. From around 1840 to 1900, the wagon-making industry was important to the upper Fishing Creek area. Another historic industry was the Susquehanna Slate Company, which operated in the late 19th century. The Fishing Creek Confederacy (August–November 1864) during the American Civil War was a suspected uprising of a high number of deserters and draft evaders. A thousand soldiers occupied and searched the Fishing Creek valley and the mountains of its headwaters but were unable to find any deserters. Nevertheless, 100 residents of Columbia County were arrested and imprisoned for desertion and draft evasion although most were later released. Starting in 1877, the Bloomsburg Water Company used Fishing Creek as its water supply. The Bloomsburg and Sullivan Railroad, which paralleled the creek, was built in 1888.