With the incorporation of the Astoria and Willamette Valley Railroad in 1858 by T. R. Cornelius, W. W. Parker, John Adair and others began Astoria's struggle for rail connections with other parts of the state and with the East which ended with the completion of the Astoria and Columbia River Railroad in 1898. No census returns were handed in for Astoria in 1860, but the estimated population was about two hundred and fifty. The troops had been removed before this so that the town had had a substantial growth caused chiefly by the increase in the amount of shipping and the trade with the small growing settlements near Astoria. Astoria was becoming the trade center for all points on the lower Columbia. The fishing industry was confined still to the smoking and salting of salmon and a considerable quantity was shipped to the Sandwich Islands. J. M. Shively, who had been appointed postmaster in 1847, left for the mines in 1849 leaving his deputy, David Ingalls, in charge of the office, who moved the office to his store on the southwest corner of Tenth and Duane streets. At this time Astoria was the distributing office for the entire Northwest, including the present states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. In 1853 San Francisco was made the distributing point for the coast. T. P. Powers, who resided in Upper Town and was a part owner in that place, succeeded Mr. Shively as postmaster and moved the post office to upper town near the customhouse. This left Astoria without a federal office and helped to build up its rival. With the change of the national administration in 1861, new officers who were friendly to the lower town were appointed and the post office and the customhouse were moved to the lower town. It was remarked at the time by a resident of lower town that "politics took them away and politics brought them back." The erection of Fort Stevens and Fort Canby at this time made work plentiful around the mouth of the river and contributed to the growth of Astoria both in population and in wealth, as many of the supplies were drawn from the town. The school census for the years 1859-70 shows a steady growth in population brought about by the establishment of new enterprises, the settlement of the country tributary to the town, and the increase in amount of shipping from the Columbia River, especially the establishment of a regular line of steamers from Portland and Astoria to San Francisco. In 1865 Christian Leinweber started the Upper Astoria tannery which gave employment to about thirty persons. In 1867 what was afterwards known as the Hume mill was built near Thirteenth and Commercial streets and was one of the city's most important resources until its destruction by fire in 1883.