Alphabet City owes much of its initial development to shipbuilding, the industry that used to dominate the area. Known as the Dry Dock District, this area used to bustle with thousands of workers building waterborne vessels, as well as in supporting trades such as iron works and wood mills. Residences were built around the area as well, both to house the owners of the industries as well as the workers.  Though the remnants of those days in the easternmost blocks of the East Village are few and scattered, some do survive.