Worthy R. Brown was born in Port Clinton, Ohio on March 17, 1884. He was the first person to operate charter boats for reel fishing on Lake Erie. He founded Channel Grove Marina in East Harbor, and for many years operated "Sandy Beach," now known as East Harbor State Park. In 1904, Mr. Brown started Worthy Brown & Sons, Inc., which was later known as Brown's Marina. In 1928, he purchased the boats and the route of the Maley Transportation Company. By 1929 Mr. Brown leased space in the G.A. Boeckling building for office use. He changed the company name to Brown’s Boats, Inc. about that time.
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| The G.A. Boeckling building and dock, originally used for ferries to Cedar Point |
By 1931, Worthy Brown had purchased all the buildings between the Lay Brothers fishery and the east pier, and used the area as a boat docking facility. If you look closely, you can read the words Brown’s Boats, Inc. in the building in the center of the picture below.
For several years, Brown Boats was the local representative for Lyman Boats Works of Sandusky. A Lyman boat catalog was included in the 1953 WLEC Time Capsule, which was opened in 2003, and is now housed at the Follett House Museum.
