Old Town info

[KateVT]

I just retrieved my deceased parents' Old Town canoe from a barn where it had been stored for at least 10 years. The serial number is (I think): 89669 16. There are also letters perpendicular to the number that read R.F V (? may be a K?) I P. They had the canoe restored at one point in the 1980s or 1990s and used to take it up to Maine to canoe on Sebago Lake. (They lived on Narragansett Bay in RI, but the canoe never touched the salt water, as far as I know.)
Thank you for any information you are able to provide!

 

[Benson Gray]

Welcome and congratulations, the build record for the Old Town with serial number 89669 shows an 18 foot long canoe that shipped to Michigan so that doesn't seem like a good match. The ones for 39669 and 189669 aren't any better. The suggestions at the link below may help. Can you provide some pictures of the serial numbers and surrounding area from each end? What is the extreme length of the canoe in a straight line? Thanks,

Benson

Thread 'How do I find a serial number on an old wooden canoe or boat?'

Oct 2, 2005

Many old wooden canoes and boats have a serial number on both inside stems and a decal or tag with the manufacturer's logo on the bow deck. The number is usually stamped on the top of the lower part of the stems. The inside stems are the long curved pieces of wood that form the ends of the canoe. You want to look on the part that extends out from under the decks on the bottom of the floor inside the hull. The serial numbers are stamped in each end of the canoe so check both if a single digit is not clear. These numbers in the stern of boats are occasionally on the edge of the center...

• Benson Gray
• Replies: 2
• Forum: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• 

 

[KateVT]

Thank you! I found the number on the stern stem, and it looks like the first number is a 5. Maybe 59969 16? The canoe is 16 feet long.
The first two photos are from the stern, and the third is from the bow. (The blue in the send photo is a reflection--not paint.)
It would make sense if the canoe was shipped to Vermont when it was made. That is where Dad grew up.
Thank you!

 

[Benson Gray]

The Old Town canoe with serial number 59969 is a 16 foot long, CS (common sense or middle) grade, Otca model with red western cedar planking, open spruce gunwales, twenty inch birch decks, birch thwarts, birch seats, and a keel. It was built between March and April, 1920. The original exterior paint color was white. It shipped on May 5th, 1920 to New York City. This canoe came back for extensive repairs on June 30th, 1941. It returned to Burlington, Vermont on July 25th, 1941. Scans of both sides of this build record can be found below.

These scans and several hundred thousand others 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 this description doesn't match. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.

Benson

 

[KateVT]

Thank you!!