For several years, the Chamber of Commerce operated a ferry at Toad Suck, where Highway 60 crosses the Arkansas River linking Faulkner and Perry Counties. The Chamber of Commerce financed the operation of the ferry, hoping the Perry County residents would bring enough business across the Arkansas River to justify the expense of the ferry.

Dave Ward, a local blacksmith who eventually built school buses, was responsible for building the Toad Suck Ferry, which operated across the Arkansas River until the Toad Suck Bridge was built in the early 1970s.

When the construction of the Arkansas River Navigation project was begun, the Chamber of Commerce Road Committee proposed to the Arkansas Highway Commission the construction of a bridge across the Arkansas River at Toad Suck.

During a severe drought in 1980, it was necessary to use water from the Arkansas River. The construction of the Arkansas River Navigation System had caused, at times, poor quality river water to enter the Conway water supply system on the Cadron Creek, causing taste and odor problems. For nearly 20 years the need for a new water supply was discussed by City and Corporation officials with members of the Arkansas Congressional delegation.

Finally, the U.S. Congress appropriated the money and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed a new reservoir for Conway on Cypress Creek in Conway County. The completion of Lake Brewer (named by the City Council for Corporation manager Jim Brewer) in 1983 would eliminate the problem.