Today, Hog Sty Bay is the site of a bustling port and an anchorage for local vessels and visiting merchant, navy, and cruise ships. The National Museum, originally constructed as the Courts Building at the heart of the harbour in the 1830s, served as the location of a lantern hoisted up the flagpole to serve as a beacon to homewardbound sailors and passing ships. British Navy surveyor George Gauld anchored here while creating the first hydrographic chart of Grand Cayman. In 1773 he wrote, “the only place of anchorage is at the west end, abreast of the Hogsties … This, in good weather is a very convenient place for wooding and watering and getting stock and other refreshment.” In 1802 Edward Corbet wrote, “At George Town vessels are supplied with water as well as provisions from wells dug at no great distance from the Beach.” Recent archaeological finds suggest, in fact, that permanent settlement of the shoreline began by the mid-1700s. And several historic stepwells can still be seen.