History

Brown’s Boatyard was founded in the mid-1940s when Frank Brown left the family boatyard at Water Street for a location closer to Long Island Sound and, fortuitously, south of the railroad bridge spanning the West River.

Known for his Yankee thrift, Frank built the boatyard shop building from second-hand lumber formerly used in one of the churches on The Guilford Green; it’s the same shop used at Brown’s today. The yard employed two railways that were used to move boats about (as opposed to the 25 ton travelift currently used at Brown’s Boatyard).

Frank enjoyed about 25 years of boat building and repair business before deciding to lease the yard, in the early ‘70s, to Henry Snyder. Snyder made improvements to the facility, including adding seawalls and incorporating a fuel dock into the offering. However, Snyder was unable to make a go of it so Frank Brown took the yard back in 1977.

Not wanting the day-to-day responsibilities of running the operation, Frank convinced Bill and Tammy Green – who had a lobster hatchery on property just north of the Brown’s Boatyard – that it would be a great opportunity for them to lease and operate the growing (some might say overgrown!) yard. The Green’s first order of business was ridding the yard of abandoned boats; they bought a bulldozer and crane for this task and also relied on some very enthusiastic help from the town Fire Department. The Greens improved the yard by adding pole barn extension to the original building.

One of the Green’s boatyard customers was Dave North, who kept his 38’ 1938 Matthews at Brown’s Boatyard. He established a close rapport with the Green’s and eventually decided to leave his family’s insurance business to become the manager of the yard.

Dave began his tenure as manager in 1981 and by 1984, he had installed bulkheads on more of the waterfront, added a TravelLift and made considerable improvements to various yard buildings. He became owner of the yard and built a home on the property where he raised his family and still resides today. He owned the yard for 30+ years.

In November 2017 Dave decided he was ready to retire. General manager Hank Robinson and his wife Amanda decided it was time to dive in and are now owner’s and operators of Brown’s

Boatyard. Hank started his career fixing boats when he was still in high school. He has over 15 years experience working in the field. He is a top notch mechanic and proved himself fitting as general manager for 6 years. Amanda became the office manager in 2016 after welcoming their daughter into the world. They work as a team and have continued to maintain a thriving business doing repairs, improvements, summer marina activities and winter storage. They are able to be successful with the help of Dane Lawrence, Don Kacenski, Mike Winslow, and Emery Mazo.