In the late 1800’s, Liverpool was the fourth largest shipping port in Canada. At least seven shipyards were in operation at the time, building windjammers for use in trade. From the mid 1800s to just after World War I, over 75,000 tons of ships sailed away from close to twenty Queens County shipyards. D.C. Mulhall, mayor of Liverpool (1899-1903, 1908-1916) once commented that there were so many ships in town that “a pedestrian could walk [across the harbour] by stepping from deck to deck of the vessels that filled the river.” While shipbuilding in Queens was reduced drastically with the advent of steel construction, some of Liverpool’s shipyards were used by the government to build vessels during World War II.