Another canoe found - and an old one!

Wade Smith

Curious about Wooden Canoes
IMG_2868.JPG
Serial number on the stem is
55044-16

Setting up for the Langdon Fall Festival in Langdon NH, with three Old Towns from a wood-canvas canoe restoration class, the organizer says to her husband "don't we still have one of these in the shed?" Sure enough!

It has been reinforced with through-bolted stringers inside, and the stern lopped-off for a transom, but the old inwales and breadthooks are still in the rafters too!

www.millhollowworks.org
 
The Old Town canoe with serial number 55044 is a 16 foot long, CS (Common Sense or middle) grade, Charles River model with red western cedar planking, closed spruce gunwales, birch decks, birch thwarts, birch seats, and a keel. It was built between June and July, 1919. The original exterior paint color was dark green. It was shipped on July 28th, 1919 to New Rochelle, New York. A scan of this build record can be found by following the link at the attached thumbnail image below.

55044.jpg

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 join or renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/about-wcha to learn more about the WCHA and http://www.wcha.org/store/membership to join.

It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.

Benson
 
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