Kennebec Canoe information needed

[Doug Smith]

I have a 1923 Kennebec Canoe. The Serial Number is 17329. Anything that you could tell me about this canoe would be greatly appreciated. I'm particularly interested in who purchased the canoe originally and where it was shipped to.

I have info about who planked it, ribbed it etc at the factory but I am trying to track where the canoe was and who owned it prior to me. Interestingly, the people that gave it to me in the early 1970's have no idea where they got it from

Thanks in advance for any help that you can provide.
Regards,
Doug Smith

 

[Dan Miller]

Your canoe was originally shipped to "24-475". The first part is the year, 1924. We have not yet found the key to decoding the rest - "475" could be an order number, a customer number, or something else. Afraid we aren't going to be much help in identifying the original order....

Dan

 

[Doug Smith]

Reply

thanks for the information. Where else can I go to try and find out more?

 

[Benson Gray]

Where else can I go to try and find out more?

You can contact Deanna Bonner-Ganter who is the Curator of Fine Art, Graphic Art, and Archives at the Maine State Museum, 83 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333-0083 or 207-287-2301 to make an appointment and go through their Kennebec Canoe Company document collection. Please reply here if you find the answer or have other questions. Thanks,

Benson

 

[Doug Smith]

Thanks for your help.

Benson:
Thanks for your help. I've been working on this for decades and I reakky want to solve the mystery.
Regards,
Doug

 

[Benson Gray]

I just got a private message about this canoe so decided to share the information here since that type of sharing was not permitted by the Maine State Museum in 2008.

The Kennebec canoe with serial number 17329 is a 16 foot long Kennebec model type A as shown on page 184 of volume three in the Kennebec ledgers. It was planked by Roy on September 1st, 1923. The canvas covering was applied by Tuttle and the first filler coat was applied by Grant on September 8th, 1923. The second filler coat was applied by Tuttle on September 29th, 1923. The rails were applied by Webber on the same day. The original color was gray. It shipped to location "24-475" on June 16th, 1924. This location is probably an order number but we don't currently have enough information to identify it.

The scans of these build records can be found below. These original Kennebec records are reproduced through the courtesy of the Maine State Museum.

The microfilms and scans of these records were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA). I hope that you will donate, join or renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/about-wcha to learn more about the WCHA and https://www.woodencanoe.org/pricing-plans/join to donate or 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.

Benson