The town of Lloyd was first settled in 1754, when Anthony Yelverton brought equipment for a sawmill across the Hudson River. In addition to his sawmill, he built a brickyard and conducted a store in the lower level of his house. The riverfront became the town of Lloyd's first business district. This area was later called Highland Landing, for the new village of Highland that developed on the higher ground above the landing. In the 19th century, steamboats carried freight and passengers from Highland to New York City, and ferryboats crossed the Hudson River to Poughkeepsie several times every day. With the completion of the West Shore Railroad in 1883, the Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge and the Central New England Railway in 1888, and a trolley line going west in 1897, Highland could rightfully claim that it was the "Gateway to Ulster County."