Carleton canoe

[sbennett86]

My dad (mostly him) and I "inherited" my grandfather's canoe several years before he passed away. He always told us it was an Old Town. In fact, several years ago we got the build sheet from Old Town using that serial number. But my dad is looking into having new gunwales made and in working with Old Town figured out it's more likely a Carleton.

Serial number 14892 18.

Any information appreciated.

Thanks,
Scott Bennett

 

[Benson Gray]

The Carleton canoe with serial number 14892 is an 18 foot long, AA (or top) grade, Indian Princess model with red western cedar planking, open mahogany gunwales, mahogany decks, mahogany thwarts, mahogany seats, a keel, and a floor rack. It was built between April, 1920 and July, 1921. The original exterior paint color was dark green. It shipped on June 12th, 1922 to Sunbury, Pennsylvania. A scan of this build record can be found by following the link under the thumbnail image attached below.

This scan 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/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 possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match the canoe. It was originally shipped as an Old Town so your grandfather was correct. The Old Town canoe with this serial number was 17 feet long and much less fancy. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.

Benson