Old Town Canoe Information

[helmsman65]

I am not new to wooden boats (wooden sailboats) or canoeing (Rolalex)...but I am fairly new to wooden canoes, WCHA and
this forum. I am currently building a strip canoe and have a wooden canoe to restore. A friend of mine came across an old
canoe and asked me to look at it. I have confirmed it is a Old Town..16 ft......guessing that it was built in the 20's...its restorable
but not sure he wants to take this project on. I am trying to encourage him to do so....but am prepared to do it if he decides not
to. Hull/serial number is 60897. Any additional info would be most appreciated.

 

[Greg Nolan]

Welcome to the WCHA.

If the canoe is indeed an Old Town, you need to check either the length or the serial number of the canoe. Canoe length is the overall length measured from the extreme ends of the canoe. Check the number in the stem ends at both ends -- posting pictures here might help us decipher the number if it is unclear.

The Old Town canoe with serial number 60897 is an 18 foot long, CS (common sense or standard) grade Otca model with red western cedar planking, open spruce gunwales, birch seats, decks and thwarts, and equipped with a keel. It was built between May and July 1920. The original exterior paint color was dark green . It was shipped to Madison, Connecticut on August 2, 1920. A scan of this build record can be found by following the link behind the thumbnail image attached below.



This scan and several hundred thousand others were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others. A description of the project to preserve these records is available at http://www.wcha.org/ot_records/ if you want more details. I hope that you will join or renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/about-the-wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://store.wcha.org/WCHA-New-Membership.html to join.

It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.

Greg Nolan