Welcome and congratulations, the Old Town canoe with serial number 28319 is a 16 foot long, CS (Common Sense or middle) grade, Otca model with red Western cedar planking, open spruce gunwales, ash decks, ash thwarts, ash seats, and a keel. It was built between August, 1913 and February, 1914. The original exterior paint color was N. H. (New Haven Railroad) green. It shipped on March 27th, 1914 to Portland, Oregon. A scan of this build record is 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/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 the canoe. The information at the link below has a good summary about how to value a canoe like this and the classifieds at
https://www.woodencanoe.org/classifieds have some similar ones for comparison. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Benson
How much is my old canoe worth?
One of the most common questions that gets sent to the WCHA webmasters is "how much is my old canoe worth?" Tim Hewitt's responses over the years have included the following comments:
Any wooden or wood/canvas canoe in usable condition is worth $1000 - $1500. A canoe that is documentable will go on the high end, one that is particularly rare will bring more, up to $3000 for a wood canvas canoe, and as high as $5000 for an all-wood canoe. These high end canoes must be in showroom condition and you must have evidence or documentation of their age and...
