The townspeople considered Fort Gibson poorly located after suffering fires, mosquitoes, and other afflictions. They moved the town to higher ground around 1900. The first buildings had faced west toward the Missouri Pacific Railroad tracks. In 1904 the town of Fort Gibson, Indian Territory, was surveyed and platted. In 1904 the town was turned around and situated one block east when J. C. Pierce built the first brick building. In 1906 John C. Berd constructed a brick-and-stone building for his drugstore, and the commercial district grew around these two permanent features. It had 1,063 residents in 1907.