Skowhegan Boat & Canoe Co.

The Skowhegan Boat & Canoe Co. was founded in 1930 by Walter D. Grant. Grant was previously a superintendent at the Kennebec Canoe Company. The Skowhegan factory burned down on December 12, 1946, taking with it all of the company's records and molds. The company survived at least until Grant's death in 1951. (Information from Speltz, see below).

Skowhegan canoes look very much like Kennebec canoes, including the short gunwale cap found on both makes. If the canoe has a serial number that does not match one found in the Kennebec Archives, then it could be a Skowhegan. Any Skowhegan records were probably lost in the 1946 fire.

Style I Skowhegan deck. Photo courtesy Dan Eaton, Smallboat Shop, Denmark, ME

Skowhegans were built with two deck types:

Style I: hardwood 20" decks, open spruce gunwales, hardwood seat frames and thwarts, and oak keel. Outside stems optional.
Style II: mahogany 20" decks with coaming, mahogany rails, seats, thwarts, and oak keel. Outside stems optional.

Skowhegan Canoe
Model	Length	Width at Gunwales	Maximum Width	Depth
A	16	31	33½	12
B	17	31½	34	12
C	18	32	34½	12
Camp Special
A	16	31	33½	12
B	17	31½	34	12
C	18	32	34½	12
Invisible Sponson
A	16		38½	12
B	17		39	12
C	18		40	12
Guide
	18½	34	36	13
	20	38	40	13
Notes: The Skowhegan Canoe and Camp Special are likely to be the same model, with small differences in quality or wood choices. Data from 1932, 1936, 1941, 1946, 1949, and 1950 catalogs. (These are found on our "Historic Wood Canoe and Boat Manufacturer Catalog Collection" CD-ROM.

Further information:

Speltz, Bob. A Real Runabouts Review of Canoes. 1991.