The land in New Wexford was divided and granted to various loyalists in the late 1700s, and changed hands many times until the early 1800s. Around 1835, Dr. Thomas Gainfort, who already owned land in the area, became heir to two more lots of land in close proximity to his existing property. After Gainfort's death in 1854, his three spinster sisters inherited all of his land; it is around this time the railroad and highway were beginning to develop and the settlement began showing growth potential. By 1860, the Gainfort trio had commissioned someone to lay out a town plot on their property to be called New Wexford, as the family is said to have emigrated from Wexford County, Ireland. The most successful early business established in the village was a slaughter house owned by the King family, which remained thriving until the Great Depression. The King's property was located on a piece of land which jutted out into the Saint Lawrence River, leading locals to refer his land as Butcher's Point. The slaughterhouse purchased cattle and swine from local farmers, which was then supplied to local families and to the crews that worked the river barges. Meat was preserved using large ice blocks which were cut from the Saint Lawrence during the winter months.