Old Town 18' Sn 42215.

[Tom Wilson]

Bought 30+ years ago at a WCHA meeting. Unrestored and as you can see it needs one new stem, the last pair of ribs, a bit of planking, and a new canvas. Capped gunnels. It has been in my dad's basement ever since, patiently waiting to get fixed up.

I actually wrote to Old Town in the 1990s and got the build info info but who knows where that paper has gone.

Thanks in advance - bonus points if you can tell me the original color.

 

[Benson Gray]

Welcome, the Old Town record for number 42215 shows an 18 foot long, GS (guide special or utility) grade, IF (Indian Fishing or Guide's) model with red western cedar planking, closed spruce gunwales, maple decks, maple thwarts, maple seats, and a keel. It was built between March and June, 1916. The original exterior paint color was slate. It shipped to Upper Saranac, New York on June 23rd, 1916. A scan of this build record can be found by following the link at the attached thumbnail image 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/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 this could have another number or manufacturer if the description doesn't match the canoe. See http://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?threads/14902/ for a similar canoe. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.

Benson

 

[Tom Wilson]

Thanks Benson, that build record sounds exactly like the canoe. The record says the original purchaser was the Saranac Lake Association, I purchased it at a WCHA meeting at Paul Smith's College so that seems reasonable. The verbal history I got was that the canoe had been owned for many years by a summer camp, painted multiple times, then had an unfortunate encounter with a snowplow that was pulled too far into the boathouse.

Donation on the way to support your efforts. Thanks again!