Peterborough Canoe Company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 | |
| Industry | Boat building |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1892 |
| Founder | William H. Hill and Elihu Edwards |
| Headquarters | |
Key people | James Z. Rogers |
| Products | Canoes |
The Peterborough Canoe Company, founded in 1892 by William H. Hill and Elihu Edwards, manufactured wooden canoes in a factory located at the corner of King and Water Streets in the city of Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, where quality wood and wood-canvas canoes and sporting goods were produced until 1961.
Founded by William H. Hill and Elihu Edwards in 1892, the Peterborough Canoe Company was managed by James Z. Rogers.[1] Just at the time that the company was starting up, another canoe company, the Ontario Canoe Company, closed because its factory suffered a serious fire. Many of the experienced canoe builders came to work at the Peterborough Canoe Company, and so the canoes produced by the two companies were similar: wide board, cedar strip and cedar rib construction.[2] The canoes were mostly canvas covered.[3]
Canoes from the Peterborough Canoe Company were sold as far away as Europe.[3] In 1915, the company bought one of its competitors, the William English Canoe Company. In 1923, it merged with a New Brunswick canoe maker, the Chestnut Canoe Company, and became Canadian Watercraft Ltd. Another Peterborough firm, the Canadian Canoe Company, was bought in 1928.[2]
In 1948 Princess Elizabeth received a 16-foot cedar rib canoe made by this company as a wedding present from the City of Peterborough.[4]
After World War II, the company became less profitable because of competition from makers of the new aluminum and fibreglass canoes, which were easier to mass-produce.[3][5] The company began to manufacture wooden powerboats and sailboats, as well as related products such as duck decoys, water skis and surf boards.[6][7] In 1961 the company ceased production.[2]
