Old Town Square Stern Canoe

[EdE]

A few months ago I bought my first wooden canoe. I had written in and was provided some great help identifying it and other useful info. The only thing I wasn’t told was that I could easily be hooked on wooden canoes….
I just purchased my second which may be an Old Town Square Stern Canoe. The number I found on the stem is #71374 16. Any information you can provide would be appreciated. I am attaching a few pics.

 

[Benson Gray]

The Old Town with serial number 71374 is a 16 foot long, CS (Common Sense or middle) grade, square stern model with red western cedar planking, open spruce gunwales, birch decks, ash thwarts, maple seats, a keel, outside stems, a floor rack, and sponsons. It was built between April and May, 1922. The original exterior paint color was dark green. It shipped on June 19th, 1922 to Stoughton, Wisconsin. A scan of this build record can be found below.

This scan and several hundred thousand more were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others as you probably know well. 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 boat. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.

Benson

 

[EdE]

Thank you for your quick response! Are you able to decipher who it was sent to? I actually bought it from the Stoughton Wisconsin Historical Society. It had been on display for many years. It belonged to a prominent tobacco farming family in Stoughton and was kept at their lake house on Lake Kegonsa. I was just curious where it was delivered to.

 

[Benson Gray]

Are you able to decipher who it was sent to?

My guess is that the top line says "Order of O. T. C. Co." which means that it was a custom order (of the Old Town Canoe Company). The second line may be "Notify J. E. O..." but the last name is not clear. I've searched for the names of old tobacco farmers in Stoughton, Wisconsin but haven't seen an obvious match. Let me know if you can figure it out. Thanks,

Benson

 

[EdE]

The family name was ROE, but I will check with my contact with the historical society and let you know soon

 

[Todd F]

Nice looking canoe. Keep posting pics.

 

[EdE]

Will do

 

[pklonowski]

Could the first letter of the last name be an "A"? The name could be "Annen", Arnen", or something of that sort?