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In the 1870s, wooden shipbuilding in Eastport gave way to more modern metallic shipbuilding with steam engines – and Eastport did not have ready access to metal nor any steam engine building expertise. Hence, other cities in the U.S. took over the shipbuilding industry (Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, made the transition to metal ships – and is still in business today).

As the shipbuilding industry declined, Eastport would need a “new gig" to sustain itself and grow its population. And that new gig became sardine packing!

Meanwhile, the Passamaquoddy continued to suffer further indignities as the U.S. government-funded "Indian Schools" to “reeducate” and “assimilate” Indigenous children across the country.

In 1870, the Franco-Prussian War broke out, and France's subsequent blocking of German ports such as Hamburg constricted the supply of sardines being shipped to the United States. New York delis/restaurants had established an appetite in the U.S. for sardines, but now, European supplies dwindled. At first, the cost of sardines rose by 50%. Then supply declined further. An alternative source needed to be found (Eastport became a major producer).  

As the appetite for Eastport's canned sardine grew, capacity needed to be added to meet demand (which would become worldwide demand in short order). By 1879, there were five sardine packing plants in the Passamaquoddy Bay area – and a year later, eight more processing plants were built in Eastport. Other Maine cities and towns joined Eastport in sardine processing, including Robbinston, Lubec, Jonesport, and Camden. Ultimately, there would be 75 plants in Maine – as well as other plants in nearby New Brunswick. 

On October 14, 1886, now thriving Eastport endured yet another catastrophe. A third major fire destroyed most of Eastport's waterfront. All told, the Fire of 1886 destroyed 130 stores, offices/businesses, 62 houses, 17 wharves, eight factories, five boarding houses, and two hotels. 

In 1900, John Wesley Raye founded his mustard company in his family smokehouse. His mustard was used as a packaging condiment for the city's burgeoning sardine business. In the spring of 1903, John W. Raye moved his mustard operation up Washington Street. Raye's Mustard is still in business today, making specialty mustards that are still distributed nationally and globally – an extension to the original mill is expected to become a museum later this decade.

On March 21st, 1904, Eastport became the epicenter of the largest earthquake to that date in Maine (5.8 Richter Scale). Some chimneys tumbled due to the quake, but the recently built downtown area remained largely intact.

On April 12th, 1912, Dexter Parshall Cooper married Gertrude Sturgis (the daughter of a Boston doctor). For their honeymoon, the couple chose to visit the bride's family home across the bay from Eastport at the Sturgis residence at Campobello Island. During this visit, Dexter conceived the idea to dam Passamaquoddy Bay to create hydroelectricity – a much-debated notion that would be revisited in the 1920s and 1930s.

By 1871, President Ulysses S. Grant had initiated his “Indian Peace Policy” to assimilate the Indigenous People across the United States. It was meant to be a benevolent policy – but it became quite the opposite. As part of the federal government’s peace program, in 1879, the Carlisle Indian Industrial School (in Pennsylvania) was founded. The institution was described as an "Indian boarding school," the first significant step in “reeducating” Indigenous children (to make them behave more “white”). 

In 1905, a local Indian School was built at Pleasant Point (the Passamaquoddy reservation just outside Eastport). Instead of being shipped-off to an Indian boarding school in remote locations, Passamaquoddy children would now be schooled at a local school: Tribal School #80.

On January 10th, 1890, the state of Maine chose to do nothing regarding Passamaquoddy charges of improprieties against Indian agent H.C. Munson of Calais. Later in the year, the state authorized the sale of rights and title of Passamaquoddy lands to three land–buyers (Stephen Peabody, Nathaniel Phelps, and William Dresser). The state also authorized land leases of Passamaquoddy lots numbered 1, 9, 21, 23, 30, 32, 34, 36 and 41. Also, in 1890, the Passamaquoddy population in Maine included 74 families at Pleasant Point, 43 families at Indian Township, and 54 families elsewhere.