In 1888, Zug allowed the River Rouge Improvement Company cut a small canal through the south section of his property to more directly connect the Rouge River to the Detroit River. This Short Cut Canal, as it came to be known, was enlarged in the early 1920s by Henry Ford to allow large ships to more easily navigate to the Ford River Rouge Complex). In 1891, Zug completed the largest real estate transaction of the decade: he sold his island for $300,000 to industries that wanted it as a dumping ground.