With the withdrawal of centuries old Ottoman rule and the establishment of Habsburg rule between the rivers Drava, Sava and Danube at the end of 17th century, the area of Vukovar and its purlieu began its long period of peacetime demographic revitalization and gradual development. Life in Vukovar was shaped and changed under the infuence of various political, social, economic and natural factors and elements. Thanks to its favorable position on the very busy Danube river, as well as the administrative and service functions it possessed as the center of Srijem County, Vukovar was one of the most important trade and economic points of Eastern Slavonia and Srijem. On the other hand, constant presence of plant and animal diseases, as well as bad weather, had a negative impact on the agricultural production of the Vukovar area, and thus on the development of trade in agricultural and livestock products as the main export goods. This paper deals with the analysis and description of the state of the economic activities, divided into three economic sectors, in the Vukovar district during the transition from the 19th to the 20th century. In the mentioned period, although still predominantly agrarian andd rural society, in which the majority of the population is engaged in agriculture, cattle breeding and similar occupations, with the presence of urban and rural small crafts mostly of local importance, there are indications of industrialization and modernization processes. Those enterprises were predominantly of a modest scope. The central role in their initiation was occupied by the Vukovar noble Eltz family, which even after the abolition of the feudal system in the middle of the 19th century, possessed sufficient financial and economic power and will to improve and introduce new techniques in ways of production.