Welcome, the Old Town canoe with serial number 96995 is an 18 foot long, GS (Guide Special or utility) grade, Guide model with red western cedar planking, open spruce gunwales, birch decks, birch thwarts, birch seats, a keel, a floor rack, a mast seat, and a mast step. It was built between January, 1928 and July, 1929. The original exterior paint color was G. S. (Guide's Special) green . It was shipped on July 9th, 1929 to Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. It returned to the factory for repairs on June 12th, 1930 and went back to Wolfeboro, New Hampshire on June 20th, 1930. Scans showing both sides of this build record can be found 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 donate, join or renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See
https://www.woodencanoe.org/about to learn more about the WCHA and
https://www.woodencanoe.org/shop 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