Old Town’s trademark wood and canvas canoes have never gone out of production, although they are no longer built at Old Town Canoe. There are a lot of Old Town Canoes out there, and they last forever. An extensive photographic record will be sent to the Maine Historic Preservation Commission. Environmental Protection Agency to help move the project forward. The city was awarded a $600,000 grant from the U.S. 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 original plant buildings were abandoned after the company moved out, leaving empty buildings lined with asbestos that were difficult to sell. In 2000 the company was making more kayaks than canoes. Old Town was to gain 48 jobs as the parent company cut an estimated 90 in its hometown of Racine, Wisconsin. Paddle manufacturing was added to the production facility as part of the parent company's consolidation and streamlining efforts. It was kept in Maine after a $900,000 interest free loan and block grant were secured. Old Town was acquired by Johnson Outdoors in 2004. In 1984 the company purchased White Canoe, named for its founder E. This successfully competed with aluminum and fibre glass canoe makers who nearly put many of the handcrafted wood and canvas builders out of business. In the early 1970s the company began using Royalex in canoe manufacture (called "Oltonar" by Old Town for many years), an ABS composite plastic. In 1954 approximately 130 workers went on strike in a dispute over wages that topped out at about $1.08 an hour. By 1923, they became the first distributor of Johnson outboard motors. In 1917, Old Town entered the sportfishing market with the introduction of a square-sterned model for the "detachable motor" that was gaining popularity. Old Town Canoe 'Discoverer 150' in use on the River Ure, England Carleton and White were later bought by the Old Town Canoe Company. The Carleton Canoe Company of Old Town built batteaux 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. Hinckley, became his working partner and provided the capital to open a large shop in Old Town, employing several men. The origins of canvas canoes can be traced to Maine and early canoe makers such as E.H. It was run as a family business until 1974. The Old Town factory on Middle Street was purchased on Octoby brothers Herbert and George Gray along with George Richardson. White, the Grays were not canoe builders themselves, but were entrepreneurs who hired others to design and build their canoes. Unlike the pioneering canoe businesses established by E.H. The first canoe built by Old Town Canoe was constructed in 1898 behind the Gray hardware store in Old Town, Maine. It adjusted by moving to using fiberglass and plastic in the 1960s. It was the leading manufacturer in the world before competitors such as Grumman pressured it by adopting aluminum for manufacture after World War II. Old Town is the largest and best known American canoe manufacturer. The company's plant was located along the Penobscot River. In the latter half of the 20th century, the company adopted more modern materials to maintain competitiveness. Old Town entered the canoe market as a builder of canvas-covered wooden canoes. The company had its beginnings in 1898, in buildings constructed in 1890 for a shoe business, and was incorporated in 1901. Old Town Canoe Company is a historic maker of canoes in Old Town, Maine.
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