1907 Old Town Questions

[Craig Allen]

I have a 16' 1907 Old Town, serial number 15003 or 15093 (hard to read) and would like a little help answering a few questions.
1. Is the block at the end of the stern deck an early repair job or does it belong there?
2. Is the metal strap on the floor boards original?
3. On the bow deck, there is a rectangular lighter discoloration in the wood which indicates there was some plate or something. There are small nail holes in the corners in the deck. If there was a plate, what did it look like and are replicas available?
Thank you all kindly for any help.

 

[mccloud]

I'll defer to Benson for the definitive answer, but the 1912 OT 16" that I'm working on doesn't have any of the things you asked about. You have open gunwales, I have closed. My deck is the typical OT ogee, yours is heart shaped, more akin to Morris and others.

 

[Benson Gray]

I agree with Tom McCloud that the block and strap appear to be repairs. The Old Town canoes with serial numbers 15003 and 15093 both have closed gunwales so those aren't a good match for your canoe. The Kennebec canoes with these serial numbers are 17 and 15 feet long respectively. My guess is that you have the Carleton canoe with serial number 15003. This is a 16 foot long, regular (or middle) grade, Carleton model with red western cedar planking, open spruce gunwales, birch decks, birch thwarts, birch seats, and a keel. It was built between May and June, 1920. The original exterior paint color was dark green. It shipped on June 26th, 1920 to New York City. A scan of this build record and the other Old Town records can be found by following the links at the attached thumbnail images below.



These scans and several hundred thousand more 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/catalogs/old-town/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-wcha to learn more about the WCHA and http://www.wcha.org/store/membership to join.

It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match the canoe. The Old Town serial number chart at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/oldtown_chart.html indicates that a serial number from 1907 should be closer to the 6xxx range. The original tag on the deck of your canoe was probably similar to the one show at http://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?attachments/2196/ on the bottom. Replicas of the older and larger tags are not readily available. A few of the newer and smaller tags are currently listed in the classifieds. Feel free to reply if you have any other questions.

Benson

 

[MGC]

The tag outline and holes from the Carleton tag are clearly visible in the shot of the stripped deck.....

 

[Craig Allen]

Wow! Thank you very much. This is great information to know. I measured the nail holes in the deck for the name plate and it lines up with the image that was referenced. This image can be used along with the nail holes in the deck to make up some artwork and have a silk screen made and then screen the image onto a piece of brass and acid etch it. After using a flashlight to shine on the serial number edgewise, I'm fairly certain now the number is 15003. This is going to be a fun project restoring this canoe. Thanks guys.