By the mid-19th century Cardinal began to develop further, as the Galop Canal had been fully constructed to allow easy passage through the rapids and a Grand Trunk Railway line was laid through the community, connecting it with Toronto. A train station was built shortly after the tracks were laid, called Edwardsburg Station. By 1851, the population had grown to around 120 individuals. Several businesses opened mid-century, including three more general stores, a blacksmith, a tailor, a gunsmith, two shoemakers, a cloth factory, a library, a carpentry shop and two inns. Additionally, this period was the beginning of the Canada Starch Company.