#3058 16 at Maine Maritime Museum

[Chris Hall]

If it exists, we would be interested in viewing the build card for this canoe, to confirm that was a 1906 Old Town product. The canoe is 16'4", and has extended bright mahogany decks, s/n stamped in both stems.
Thanks,
Chris Hall
Registrar
Maine Maritime Museum
hall@bathmaine.com

 

[Ric Altfather]

Ot 3058 16

Chris,

The build record that you request is not found in the archive. We have a 3053 and a 3055 which both indicate a 1906 build. Serial number 3053 was a 16' with maple decks and 3055 was a 15' with maple decks.

Maybe Benson or Dan can produce this build record.

Best of luck.

Ric

 

[Benson Gray]

The serial number 3058 16 is not present in any of the known Old Town records as Ric Altfather mentioned above. There is a gap between 3055 and 3065. I have toured your museum and been very impressed with both your wonderful collection and the great presentations. There does appear to be an error with the description of the canoe in the boatshop which belongs to Richard A. Ferren with this serial number. It is listed as an Old Town canoe from 1906 although the rails, stems, decks, planking pattern, ribs, and other construction details are all consistent with the styles used by the Charles River, Massachusetts builders like H. B. Arnold, Waltham, or J. R. Robertson. The New Hampshire Classic and Antique Boat Museum (http://www.nhacbm.org/) currently has two of these on display with original decals if you wish to confirm with them.

Benson

 

[Kevin Martin]

Chris:
I also visited the museum a few years ago and agree that the canoe is likely a Charles
River area canoe. If I remember it right I thought it was a Roberson or Arnold. It may be difficult to determine the actual builder because some of the models are exactly the same with different companies from that area and I do not know of any build records available. I think the Robertson canoes had the # seperated 30 58 16 but other companies may have done that also.
Kevin Martin

 

[Fitz]

Any Pictures of the canoe?

Hi Chris:

Do you have any pictures of the canoe? I had a day off today and spent some of the morning thumbing through an old Robertson canoe catalogue at a local library. The catalogue showed two basic models. Variations included deck lengths, wood species used in trim, and two hull shapes. One hull was flatter and wider than the other.

 

[Michael Grace]

Chris and I discussed this canoe not too long ago, and photos show that this definitely is a Charles River-area canoe. For example, the ribs are untapered as is common from these builders (though some may not have- Shae, for example if memory serves). The canoe in question is decked in what I think of as the later fashion, with decking running over the gunwale, and with no top cap as opposed to having a top cap covering the edge of the decking (this seems more common to me on earlier canoes, but this may not hold up under scrutiny over time). It has stems and sheer that are reminiscent of Arnold (given the shapes of tagged Arnolds, not suspected Arnolds).

Michael

 

[The Canoe Kid]

Wow- what an coincidence.

I was at the museum on Friday. I saw the canoe and noticed that they thought it was an OTCA.

I pointed it out to them, without knowing about the discussion going on here.

It looks like they are on to finding out what it really is, already.

The boat looked like the Arnold that I saw last week. I looked for a nameplate on it somewhere, but I couldn't find one.


BTW: the museum is a great place. I recommend checking it out if you are in the Bath, ME, area.


The Canoe Kid