![Old town canoe plate of authenticity 2012](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Old_town_canoe_plate_of_authenticity_2012.JPG)
Old Town Canoe Company is a historic maker of
canoe
A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle.
In British English, the ter ...
s in
Old Town,
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...
. The company had its beginnings in 1898, in buildings constructed in 1890 for a shoe business, and was incorporated in 1901. Old Town entered the canoe market as a builder of canvas-covered wooden canoes. In the latter half of the 20th century, the company adopted more modern materials to maintain competitiveness. The company's plant was located along the
Penobscot River.
Old Town is the largest and best known
American canoe manufacturer. It was the leading manufacturer in the world before competitors such as
Grumman
The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a 20th century American producer of military and civilian aircraft. Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, it merged in 1994 ...
pressured it by adopting aluminum for manufacture
after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. It adjusted by moving to using fiberglass and plastic in the 1960s.
Old Town also produces
kayaks.
History
The first canoe built by Old Town Canoe was constructed in 1898 behind the Gray hardware store in Old Town, Maine. Unlike the pioneering canoe businesses established by
E.H. Garrish,
B.N. Morris, and
E.M. White, the Grays were not canoe builders themselves, but were entrepreneurs who hired others to design and build their canoes. The Old Town factory on Middle Street was purchased on October 23, 1901 by brothers Herbert and George Gray along with George Richardson. It was run as a family business until 1974.
The origins of canvas canoes can be traced to
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...
and early canoe makers such as E.H. Gerrish and C.B. Thatcher of
Bangor, B.N. Morris of
Veazie and G.E. Carleton and E.M. White of
Old Town, Maine
Old Town is a city in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 7,431 at the 2020 census. The city's developed area is chiefly located on the relatively large Marsh Island, though its boundaries extend beyond that. The island i ...
. White's brother-in-law, E.L. Hinckley, became his working partner and provided the capital to open a large shop in Old Town, employing several men. The
Carleton Canoe Company of Old Town built
batteaux
A bateau or batteau is a shallow-draft, flat-bottomed boat which was used extensively across North America, especially in the colonial period and in the fur trade. It was traditionally pointed at both ends but came in a wide variety of sizes. ...
and bark canoes in the 1870s and "appears to be the only one of the batteaux and/or bark builders who switched to building canvas canoes and as such was the only one who brought any previous boat building experience to the industry." In addition to White and Carleton, there were several smaller companies building canvas-covered canoes in the town of Old Town when the Old Town Company began its venture. Carleton and White were later bought by the Old Town Canoe Company.''
![Old town 1921 cover](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Old_town_1921_cover.jpg)
In 1905 a court dispute, Old Town Canoe v. William C. Chestnut, was heard over whether enticements to immigrate were given to skilled canoe laborers from Old Town who went to Canada's
Chestnut Canoe Company
Chestnut Canoe Company was established in Fredericton in the Canadian province of New Brunswick at the end of the 19th century and became one of the pre-eminent producers of wood-and-canvas canoes. The company closed in 1979.
History
By the e ...
.
In 1910, Old Town purchased the Carleton Boat and Canoe Company. When the Carleton factory on South Main Street in Old Town burned on May 17, 1911, all of their canoe building was consolidated with Old Town Canoe. Old Town continued to print Carleton catalogs and sell Carleton canoes into the early 1940s, thus creating a dual system of distribution that permitted them to have more of their products in the marketplace.
![Old town canoe plate river ure 2012](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Old_town_canoe_plate_river_ure_2012.JPG)
In 1917, Old Town entered the sportfishing market with the introduction of a square-sterned model for the "detachable motor" that was gaining popularity. By 1923, they became the first distributor of Johnson outboard motors.
In 1954 approximately 130 workers went on strike in a dispute over wages that topped out at about $1.08 an hour.
In the early 1970s the company began using
Royalex
Royalex was a composite material, comprising an outer layer of vinyl and hard acrylonitrile butadiene styrene plastic (ABS) and an inner layer of ABS foam. The layers are bonded by heat treatment. It was used to manufacture durable, mid-priced ca ...
in canoe manufacture (called "Oltonar" by Old Town for many years), an ABS composite plastic. This successfully competed with
aluminum
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...
and fibre glass canoe makers who nearly put many of the handcrafted wood and canvas builders out of business.
In 1974 the company was sold to
S.C. Johnson.
[Old Town Canoe sold to Johnson](_blank)
Bangor Daily News - December 27, 1974
In 1984 the company purchased
White Canoe, named for its founder E. M. White and founded in 1889.
Old Town was acquired by
Johnson Outdoors
Johnson Outdoors Inc. () produces outdoor recreational products such as watercraft, diving equipment, camping gear, and outdoor clothing. It has operations in 24 locations worldwide, employs 1,400 people and reports sales of more than $315 millio ...
in 2004. It was kept in Maine after a $900,000 interest free loan and
block grant were secured.
Paddle
A paddle is a handheld tool with an elongated handle and a flat, widened distal end (i.e. the ''blade''), used as a lever to apply force onto the bladed end. It most commonly describes a completely handheld tool used to propel a human-powered w ...
manufacturing was added to the production facility as part of the parent company's consolidation and streamlining efforts. Old Town was to gain 48 jobs as the parent company cut an estimated 90 in its hometown of Racine, Wisconsin.
The company began making kayaks in 1995. In 2000 the company was making more kayaks than canoes.
The original plant buildings were abandoned after the company moved out, leaving empty buildings lined with asbestos that were difficult to sell. In the end, city officials decided the cost of rehabilitating the complex was too prohibitive and the decision was made to demolish the buildings. The city was awarded a $600,000 grant from the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon pro ...
to help move the project forward. An extensive photographic record will be sent to the Maine Historic Preservation Commission. Demolition began in March 2014.
Old Town’s trademark wood and canvas canoes have never gone out of production, although they are no longer built at Old Town Canoe. With the closing of the factory at Old Town, Maine, the company contracted with Island Falls Canoe, owned by Jerry Stelmok of Atkinson, to build and maintain its wooden canoes.
Most of the individual records for Old Town's canoes and boats built prior to 1976 still exist. Information on
serial numbers 210,999 or less has been scanned and can be accessed by providing the number either to Wooden Canoe Heritage Association volunteers online or by contacting the Old Town company. A serial number is located on the upper face of the
stem on the floor of the canoe at each end.
Build records contain specific information regarding construction of each boat or canoe, including the dates each part of the build-process was accomplished, the date it was shipped and its final destination.
Notable Old Town Canoes
*Seven 16-foot Guide Model Old Town canoes were used in production of the film
Deliverance
''Deliverance'' is a 1972 American survival thriller film produced and directed by John Boorman, and starring Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, and Ronny Cox, with the latter two making their feature film debuts. The screenplay was adapt ...
. They were serial numbers 183635, 184310, 184314, 184380, 184432, 184434, and 184739.
*The canoe that journalist
Eric Sevareid
Arnold Eric Sevareid (November 26, 1912 – July 9, 1992) was an American author and CBS news journalist from 1939 to 1977. He was one of a group of elite war correspondents who were hired by CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow and nicknamed " Murrow's ...
and his friend Walter Port paddled on the 2,250 mile adventure described in Sevareid's book ''
Canoeing with the Cree
''Canoeing with the Cree'' is a 1935 book by journalist Eric Sevareid, recounting a canoe trip that he and friend Walter Port embarked on in 1930.
History and title
Prior to the trip, which took place during the summer of 1930 and was sponsored ...
'' was an Old Town of unspecified model.
*In 1935, environmentalist
Sigurd F. Olson
Sigurd Ferdinand Olson (April 4, 1899 – January 13, 1982) was an American writer, environmentalist, and advocate for the protection of wilderness. For more than thirty years, he served as a wilderness guide in the lakes and forests of the Quet ...
purchased a number of Old Town Yankee Model canoes for his
outfitting and livery business, Border Lakes Outfitters in
Winton, Minnesota
Winton is a city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 172 at the 2010 census. The city is home to a small hydroelectric dam on the edge of Garden Lake, one of 11 stations owned by Minnesota Power.
State Highwa ...
.
*The first Chief of the
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...
,
Gifford Pinchot
Gifford Pinchot (August 11, 1865October 4, 1946) was an American forester and politician. He served as the fourth chief of the U.S. Division of Forestry, as the first head of the United States Forest Service, and as the 28th governor of Pennsy ...
, received Old Town number 72176 in September 1922. It is a 15-foot Common Sense grade Fifty Pound Model canoe.
In popular culture
The Old Town Canoe Company "is one of the few Maine businesses to have achieved legendary status nationally". Old Town was featured by the
Discovery Channel for an episode of ''
Some Assembly Required'' in 2008.
Bangor Daily News - April 17, 2008 ''Old Town Canoe get...''
accessed 22 November 2020
References
Further reading
*Audette, Susan T., with David E. Baker, ''The Old Town Canoe Company: Our First Hundred Years'', Tilbury House, 1998.
External links
*
*Gray, Benson and Daniel Miller, editors, ''The Complete Old Town Canoe Company Catalog Collection'' on CD-ROM
*Old Town build records on CD-ROM
*''Old Town Canoe: Serial Number Search'
*''The Wood and Canvas Canoe: Old Town HW with Sponsons'
*''Creation of a Canoe'' 1950s video featuring an Old Town cano
{{Authority control
Old Town, Maine
Companies based in Penobscot County, Maine
Manufacturing companies established in 1898
Canoe manufacturers
Design companies established in 1898
1898 establishments in Maine
Kayak manufacturers