Fishing and oyster dredging prospered as commercial enterprises on the island beginning in the 1860s. In 1866, the extension of the Pennsylvania Railroad to nearby Crisfield, Maryland, helped to spur local growth of commercial oystering. The seafood industry on Saxis boomed at the beginning of the twentieth century, with the 1903 construction of an unconnected wharf 650 yards offshore at the edge of the shipping channel. After the Civil War, the steamers "Maggie" and "The Eastern Shore" carried the seafood products of Saxis to the Northern cities. The steamers also brought many visitors to Saxis at that time.