Cranford Canoe Club History Help - Cranford, New Jersey

Brooks Betz

New Member
I'm researching canoe club history in Cranford New Jersey. I have found four canoe clubs.

Ulhigh Canoe Club c1908
Cranford Canoe Club
Lobster House pre-1900?
Skeeter Canoe Club - 1908

The Lobster House had an add selling Old Town canoes in 1906

Does anyone have any information on New Jersey Canoe Dealers from mid 1880's thru maybe 1910?
 
Your best bet may be an archive of local newspapers which can often be found in a library or historical society serving that area. I have found the one at http://oldtown.advantage-preservation.com/ very useful in my research of the Old Town, Maine area. You could also purchase a set of the Old Town build records from http://www.wcha.org/store/old-town-canoe-company-build-record-archive-2-dvd-set to search for deliveries to New Jersey from 1906 to 1910. Good luck and let us know what you find.

Benson
 
Brooks, I restored their Charles River model in , I think it was 2012. It's hanging in the office. We had a fund raiser to restore it. I'm not up on the history of the club, but they were very nice people to work with.
 

Attachments

  • cranford canoe,sagi canoe 009.JPG
    cranford canoe,sagi canoe 009.JPG
    512.2 KB · Views: 455
On another subject, does anyone know when and if Old Town started putting their decals on those brass oval plaques. Mounted with a screw on each end. I see a lot of them. Or is that something people are doing cause they think it's correct.
 
Last edited:
Thanks Benson, I see a lot of them on older canoes and the decal is usually wrong. somehow people must have ordered them from Old town? maybe to spruce up their canoe, and old town just sent them a plaque with a decal on it. I'm getting a collection of them. When I restore a canoe I try and replace them with the correct deck decal. Just wanted to be able to explain to the customer that the plaque doesn't belong.
 
The Cranford CC also had a rental operation and sold both Old towns and Arnold canoes somewhere shortly after the turn of 1900. I restored a canoe that was purchased there; a 16" Arnold with 3' and 2' decks (name tag still on it.) It was purchased by the current owners family in 1906 according to the receipt. It was still in Cranford when I returned it restored about 12 years ago...
 
Here are a couple of pictures of that Arnold, because if there aren't pictures, it didn't happen
 

Attachments

  • File.jpg
    File.jpg
    211.4 KB · Views: 385
  • File6.jpg
    File6.jpg
    220 KB · Views: 391
  • File1.jpg
    File1.jpg
    141 KB · Views: 389
Thanks to everyone so far. I've posted the research already gathered from various old newspapers. Still hoping to nail down Old Town canoe dealerships in the area. This will be an open article and updated when new information surfaces. http://blog.t3consortium.com/cranford-canoe-club-history/

I have no idea about the Arnold Canoes - could you provide any sourced information?
The Cranford CC also had a rental operation and sold both Old towns and Arnold canoes somewhere shortly after the turn of 1900. I restored a canoe that was purchased there; a 16" Arnold with 3' and 2' decks (name tag still on it.) It was purchased by the current owners family in 1906 according to the receipt. It was still in Cranford when I returned it restored about 12 years ago...
 
Brooks, I restored their Charles River model in , I think it was 2012. It's hanging in the office. We had a fund raiser to restore it. I'm not up on the history of the club, but they were very nice people to work with.

Can you email me or post maybe a paragraph on the history of your project? I'll add it to the piece.
 
Back
Top