About Us

Docky's was opened in 2025 by the Hamilton family - Sarah, Ryan, Isabel, Charles, Beatrice, and Catherine.

Sarah (Buckey) Hamilton is a life-long Lakesider, and the kids have spent some portion of every summer of their lives in Lakeside.

In 2003, we opened our first businesses in Lakeside - Kids on Third Street & Home on Third Street. At some point, life got too busy to continue those ventures, but we have always wanted to launch another retail store on the shores of Lake Erie.

When the West pavilion spot opened up , we jumped at the chance, and Docky's was born!

Who was Docky?

“Docky” was the nickname of Joseph Benson Buckey, Sarah's Great-Grandfather, who was born in 1877 in Ava (Noble County), Ohio.

After serving as a Methodist minister and then chaplain in WWI, around 1917, he purchased a vacant lot in Lakeside at 630 Cedar Avenue. He proceeded to order a kit house from the Sears & Roebuck catalog, which arrived at the Lakeside train station, and was carried down the street by horse and cart.

The cottage still stands today, and is known as “Amen Corner,” a reference to the putting green in the front yard.