Uncle Jim's Oldtown

[Rod Bostian]

My Uncle gave me a canoe years ago and since his passing, I have been curious as to the history of his prized craft. It's serial # appears to be 102775, was (according to him) owned by a Frederick county Maryland family. 17 ft

 

[Benson Gray]

The Old Town canoe with serial number 102775 is a 17 foot long, CS (common sense or middle) grade, HW (heavy water) model with red western cedar planking, open spruce rails, birch decks, a keel, and sponsons. It was built between August, 1929 and April, 1930. The original exterior paint color was dark green. It shipped on April 19th, 1930 to Torrington, Conn. but was damaged in transit and returned on May 26th, 1930. There was a small hole in the canvas which required replacement and refinishing for $36.36 as shown on the back side of the card. It was then sold to Bangor, Maine on June 2nd, 1930. Scans of both sides of this build record can be found by following the links behind the attached thumbnail images below.

These scans were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others. Additional information about 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 join or contribute to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://www.wcha.org/join.html to join.

It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match the canoe. There is no mention of Maryland on this record. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.

Benson

 

[Rod Bostian]

I may have given you the wrong serial number

I was confused as to whether the digits were sevens or ones.......Let's try again, and I'll attach a photo of the serial # and you can judge for yourself. Serial 102115

Thanks for all your help,, Rod

 

[Benson Gray]

The Old Town canoe with serial number 102115 is a 17 foot long, CS (common sense or middle) grade, HW (heavy water) model with red western cedar planking, open spruce rails, birch decks, a keel, a floor rack, and a bang plate along the full length of the keel. It was built between June and July, 1929. The original exterior paint color was light red. It shipped on July 6th, 1929 to Gettysburg, Penna. A scan of this build record can be found by following the link behind the attached thumbnail image below.

Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions. Good luck with the restoration,

Benson

 

[Rod Bostian]

the delivery location sounds plausible

Thank you Mr, Benson for taking another look at the serial number. The delivery location sounds entirely possible for a canoe who's owner lived in Northern Frederick county, MD. Just a stone's throw away from Gettysburg.
I'll show a copy of the build sheet around to Uncle Jim's cronies and see if I can find out more.

Regards, Rod