With the port, Morges became the starting point for several trade routes and became the site of a major transshipment point for goods such as salt, wine and grain.
During the early modern era, the local economy began to rely more on transportation and trade than on the production of goods. The shoemakers guild were very influential in the 16 and 17 Century. They were replaced by tanners in the 18th and 19th Centuries when they grew to be more important in the local economy. The largest socio- professional groups at the end of the Ancien R�gime in 1798 were; (in order of importance) the rentiers or landlords, merchants, winemakers, farmers, shoemakers, tailors, carpenters and joiners.
Morges in the modern era
The first railway line of the Canton connected Yverdon to Morges in 1855. The new station for this line, on the western outskirts of the city, caused a surge of development outside the city walls. The first line was followed in 1856 by the Morges-Lausanne route and in 1858, the Morges-Geneva line. In 1895, the Morges-Bi�re-Apples line was finished, which opened up the hinterland.
Morges grew into a regional economic, political and cultural center during the ancien r�gime. With the cultural development, it became a center patriots (including Jean-Jacques Cart, Henri Monod and Muret Jules) and the Vaudois revolution. After the 1798 French invasionMorges was a district capital.
During the second half of the 19th Century, the city enjoyed an upturn in business thanks to the steamship port and the temporary connection from port to the railway (1855�62). In the port, the shipyard was located near the shipping company Compagnie g�n�rale de navigation sur le lac L�man (1858�89). The castle, which became the cantonal armory in 1803, was expanded in 1836-39 with some utility buildings and damaged in an explosion in 1871. Starting in 1925, it housed the Vaud Military Museum.
A Catholic church was built in 1844 and a chapel
