 This, together with its natural harbour, made Paspébiac the region's main commercial centre.The Robin and Le Boutillier installations on the barachois resembled a small town.Each company had a warehouse four or five storeys high, a general store, a wharf, a carpenter shop, a sail loft, a blacksmith shop and forge, a cooper shop for making barrels, offices, a cook-house, a boarding house for the apprentices, and numerous other buildings – besides the large area given over to the flakes and the drying fish.