In 1845 Holle Oberwasser (HO) had a population of 2,968 people of mostly Steiner background. As maritime trade began to increase steadily through the Holle River Valley and overseas via the Vaterland Bay the importance of HO rose as well. The city began to take on a rather low reputation as a final stop for desperate sailors, but by 1850 a new market emerged economically.

HO began to see a rise in large farming plantations as ships setting to sea looked for cheaper food stocks which could be found there. Between 1850 and 1860 the population of HO doubled to 5,838 (by 1860 census) though only about 1,000 were Citizens under the new Jefflandies system of citizenship whereby military service was required to gain rights as a voting member of society along with other benefits of office.

Interestingly the agricultural transition took place in an unusual place, across the Holle River, though historians have speculated that this shift had largely to do with ethnic tensions and that as migrating Steiners arrived in the Vaterland region they wanted a physical boundary from the Damzlo masses to the north. Regardless a ferry system connected the two parts of the city, though often ships would dock on the south harbor to take on food stocks and keep their crews from the brothels of the northern side.

(Farms on the south bank of the Holle River, c.1858)