St. Lawrence Boat Works / Whistle Wing Canoes Research

[Dan Miller]

This thread is intended to gather together research about the St. Lawrence Boat Works (Ogdensburg, NY) and Whistle Wing canoes. The following excerpt from https://woodencanoemuseum.org/index.php/builder-history/st-lawrence-boat-works is a summary of the history of the company, which was a successor to J. H. Rushton, Inc., at least in part:

The St. Lawrence Boat Works was incorporated on October 11, 1921, in Ogdensburg, NY with capital of $25,000. The principle stockholder was Grant C. Madill, and other directors included Thomas Huff, Elliot Daland, Charles T. Porter, Alfred Lust, and Edward J. Madill. Both Huff and Daland were principles of the Huff-Daland aircraft manufacturing company of Ogdensburg, that later became Delta Airlines.

The SLBW occupied the former buildings of the Spalding St. Lawrence Boat Company, which were owned by Joseph Leyare. Leyare had a long career building boats, first working for the St. Lawrence River Skiff, Canoe and Steam Launch Company in Clayton, NY, then the Spalding St. Lawrence Boat Company and Leyare Boat Works, the latter two also located in Odgensburg. During the World War I, Leyare was in Buffalo, NY, working for Glen Curtis building airplanes for the war effort.

Leyare was the superintendent of the SLBW, which built St. Lawrence River skiffs, square-stern rowboats, yacht dinghies and canoes, all under the “Whistle Wing” trademark. The SLBW was able to acquire the rights and molds to build Rushton Indian Girl canoes sometime after J.H. Rushton, Inc. closed in 1917. In addition to these canvas canoes, St. Lawrence Boat Works also built all-wood cedar canoes.

The company closed sometime in the mid 1920s. By 1927, Leyare was proprietor of the Leyare Boat Works, which was reported as building a 25-foot motorboat, a sail boat, and a Baby Buzz speedboat - no mention was made of canoes or skiffs. Leyare took a position in Schenectady in 1929.

To date (20 Feb 2025), I have only recorded three Whistle Wing serial numbers. One is two digits, the other two are three digits long. Most, if not all, of these canoes had longer decks, making the serial number somewhat less accessible.

Feel free to post any information about extant SLBW canoes, or other items related to the companies history, in this thread.

Dan

 

[Maxtoon]

16' with original sponsons. Never found a number.

 

[MGC]

The SLBC tags may also be found mounted on the decks.

Deck Mounted raised lettering

There appear to be two tag styles, one with raised lettering and the other with
Cowling mounted "flatter" lettering.

The Serial numbers, if found, are stamped on the stems.

A good example of an original Whistle Wing decal may be found on the Wooden Canoe Museum website.

Decals and Tags | Wooden Canoe Museum

woodencanoemuseum.org