The tugboat Arrow, built in Ludington. Photo from the Mason County Historical Society Rose Hawley Archives.
This Great Lakes History Log is presented by Filer Credit Union and the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum.
By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
The present-day Ludington Municipal Marina occupies the site of what was once one of Michigan’s most innovative marine engine factories. From 1909 until the early years of the Great Depression, the Gile Boat and Engine Company and its successor, Stearns Motor Manufacturing Company, built gasoline marine engines that earned an international reputation for quality and reliability, powering vessels throughout the Great Lakes and far beyond.
Gile Boat and Engine Company factory located on present day site of Ludingotn Municipal Marina.
William L. Gile’s innovative engine designs became the company’s hallmark. Built with heavy-duty construction and marketed as “Extra Reserve” engines, they developed a reputation for producing dependable power while withstanding the demanding conditions of commercial and pleasure boating. The engines were installed in launches, cruisers, fishing boats and workboats across North America and beyond. By the early 1920s, Stearns marine engines were featured in national boating magazines and displayed at major boat shows, while export sales reached as far away as New Zealand, Europe and the Caribbean, establishing Ludington as an important center of marine engine manufacturing.
The company also constructed complete boats, including the tug Arrow, a 64-foot, 43-ton steel tug launched in 1914 and originally powered by a 700-horsepower steam engine. Although the firm later expanded into tractors, farm lighting plants and stationary power equipment under the name Stearns Motor Manufacturing Company, marine engines remained its signature product. The company’s six-cylinder and later 16-valve marine engines gained recognition for their performance and reliability, powering everything from pleasure yachts to commercial craft.
The Stearns Motor Manufacturing Company continued producing marine engines throughout the 1920s, advertising increasingly powerful models for both recreational and commercial vessels. Like many manufacturers, the company fell victim to the Great Depression, ending production in 1930. The sprawling factory later housed several other industries before eventually giving way to what is now the Ludington Municipal Marina. Today, while the buildings are gone, the legacy of Gile and Stearns remains one of the most important chapters in Ludington’s maritime manufacturing history, demonstrating that the city was not only a port for Great Lakes vessels but also a builder of the engines that propelled them.
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