From about the 1820s to the 1930s, there was a settlement, Slab City, near the outlet from Shadow Lake, whose economy was dependent on the logging, and three sawmills in the area. The settlement also contained a lime kiln, butter tub factory, a cider mill, a one-room schoolhouse, a post office, a church, and other allied businesses. In 1836, a suit against the height of the water retained in a dam to power the sawmills was successful. The suit was motivated in large part by the Runaway Pond catastrophe. The end of the dam power marked the beginning of the end for Slab City.