Penn’s Beach Dock Company property at the foot of Lewis Street was owned by Sam S. and Ada C. Reeder (whose home had been there since the 1930s). They sold everything one would have expected from a marina, including Gulf gas, outboard motors, tackle and bait, and had a luncheonette, as well as moorings and rowboats for hire. And Sam Reeder was proud to own a “public bathing beach.” While it brought much pleasure to many, the Reeders were saddened by the death there of John S. Thorpy (1897-1934) who dove into shallow water in 1934. John was a WWI veteran, businessman, and had served on the City Council from 1928 to his death. In the summer of 1944 John P. Hines rented the Pavilion, “Hines Seafood Pavilion,” and sold hard shell crabs and fish.

In 1954, Henry DeLuca and his wife, Florence, joined Sam Reeder in the business and it became Penn’s Beach Marina. And then Hurricane Hazel hit in 1954. Doug Burdette was only 11 at that time but he remembers the violence of the storm and then the sunshine and calm, thinking it was over. But after that the winds picked up again because the eye had gone right over the City. He said they had no phone, tv, or radio after the storm and trees littered the streets but he went with his Dad and Alfred Bowman the next day to help Henry DeLuca try to clean up some of the mess the storm made of Penns Beach Marina. Concord Street was littered with junk and busted boats from the marina, the boat yard was devastated, and more than half of the rental rowboats were destroyed.

The following year, Henry DeLuca bought four old railroad barges that were still around town and sank two of them with the other two on top of them to create an L-shaped protective break-water or bulkhead around the marina. Jim Miller says one of the Mason brothers filled the barges with dirt before they were positioned. The barges had been built around 1900 and used to carry rail cars across the river but were in good shape and protected the marina for years. They were torn out when the new marina and fishing pier that is there now were built.

Many older residents have fond memories of the good times they had there. Larry Sampson lived just up on Lewis Street and used to walk down to the lunch counter for his favorite “Dr. Pepper.” Stan Rodia rented boats there and went fishing with Tommy Tyler—Stan loved the Chesapeake Bay retrievers that always lay at the front door when they went in. And many say the after-hours cookouts and cocktails with other slip holders were the best.

And some people got good work experience there, such as Ricky Morris at the age of 12 who packed bait for Sam and over six years learned every job function of a marina. Charlie Mike worked for them while he was in college in the late 1960s.

In 1972, Hurricane Agnes devastated the marina once more. It was filled with trees, debris, and mud that washed down from upriver. Paul Berube (1940-1992), a Vietnam veteran, was running the marina and it’s said that he couldn’t get approval for “environmental reasons” to fix the bulkhead although he had great plans for renewing the marina. He had cleaned it out enough that boaters again had their boats there and enjoyed the camaraderie but he knew he could improve upon it. He had also reopened the luncheonette, where JoAnn Long Keller worked for some time. After the death of Sam Reeder, his wife, Ada C. Reeder, sold the property of the marina to Teddy P. and Margaret Collier in 1975. Teddy’s brother, James A. Collier also became involved. This waterfront property eventually was sold in 2004 and developed as two large condominium apartment buildings known as Heron Harbor, with their own marina.

The simplification of the above history deserves the disclaimer that this is an effort to describe the significance of the beach and marina to those who enjoyed it through the decades, rather than an exact history of ownership, which is complicated.