Freddie Curry is still the owner of the only 22 foot double cockpit Morehouse Inboard ever built: photo- george zeth

A BRIEF HISTORY by Duncan Remington and Dick Sherwood, ACBS Rudder, Spring, 1999

Boat Show Featuring Morehouse Boats click here
revised by George Zeth, April, 2002
In 1905, George Morehouse was working at a summer restaurant known as the Wayne Pavilion located on the west side of Cayuga Lake (the largest of the eleven Finger Lakes in upstate New York) and next to what is now Cayuga Lake State Park. It was not far from the village of Seneca Falls and a short distance from what was once advertised as the longest bridge in the United States, the mile-long planked toll bridge across the northern end of Cayuga Lake. According to his daughter, Betty Morehouse Zeth, “he needed something to do in the winter” so he did odd carpentry jobs, some of which included the building of small boats. But it wasn’t until after he married Martine Christensen in 1908 that he seriously took up the study of boat design, building his first boat in 1913.
            His first two boats were fairly unimpressive and conventional flat-bottomed, pointed craft with broad sterns, built in the basement of his home. Subsequently, he built and sold several boats, earning $25.00 for flat-bottomed designs and $35.00 for round-bottomed ones. Having purchased the Wayne Pavilion in 1919 and renaming it the Grandview Inn, he eventually established a boat livery in 1925 next to the restaurant. Much of the boat production (up to twelve boats per year) was aimed at outfitting this new business. For several years, it was the restaurant that supported the boat business.

            George and Martine had two sons; Richard (Dick), born in 1909 and Robert (Bob), born in 1918. By 1925 both boys were helping their father build 14-foot rowboats, boosting winter production to 25 boats per year. When Bob was graduated from high school in 1936, he joined his father and older brother in full-time boat building, producing three models of boats and pushing production up to 50 craft per year. From 1930 to 1937, their workshop was in the shore-side livery until it was moved into the basement of the newly erected restaurant, which offered full service breakfasts and dinners for up to 200 guests. The restaurant featured a soda fountain with homemade ice cream and was renamed “Morehouse’s”. In 1937 George officially named the boat building operation the “Morehouse Boat Manufacturing Company”.

            George Morehouse died in 1942, leaving his business to his wife who had her two sons run the livery and boat company while she ran the restaurant. World War II put serious boat building on hold as Bob went into the service and Dick went to work on defense matters at the nearby Seneca Ordnance Depot. The Depot’s proximity to Cayuga Lake did allow Dick to oversee the continued production of some small boats during the war.
 

Boat construction was fairly conventional. Rowboats were planked with red cedar, while outboards were usually planked with cedar below the splash rails and mahogany above. Planking was screw-fastened to steam-bent white oak frames on four to six inch centers. In 1952, Morehouse Boat Company invested in a larger shaper and planking was changed from conventional carvel to bead-and-cove carvel, saving significant labor time. Transoms, decks and seats were made from mahogany. Sailboat frames and masts were made from spruce, while planking was cedar. Sales materials emphasized the use of modern rubber sealant versus old-fashioned caulking between planks. Walter Caves Lumber of Newark, New York supplied western red cedar; the Philippine mahogany was shipped north by importers located in New Jersey. White oak was found locally. The Finger Lakes Paint Company in Phelps, New York, custom made paints and varnishes. Bronze fittings were cast-to-order by L. Caldwell & Son of Port Byron, New York. Knight’s Letter Works of Seneca Falls custom-cast aluminum fittings and nameplates

Except for the war years, the Company built Comet sailboats from 1938-51 and Lightning sailboats from 1946-51. Wherever they went, Morehouse sailboats were recognized as formidable competition. Morehouse Comets won Central New York State Championships for five years in a row and one took a second-place in national competition. Lightning #1903, sailed by Stu Anderson, finished fifth in the 1961 World Championships held in Milford, Connecticut - it was the oldest boat entered.

  In 1947, Morehouse began work on an inboard utility design, building their first in 1948. In 1950, two sizes of inboards were introduced, 18-foot and 20-foot models, with construction similar to that of the outboards. Power for the inboards was provided by Chris-Craft (Hercules) engines, normally the 95 horsepower six-cylinder versions, although a few four-cylinder engines were also installed. One unique 22-foot inboard was built on special order for Phil Westcott Sr., owner of the Westcott Rule Company, Incorporated of Seneca Falls. It was configured with two cockpits (seats) forward, a utility layout aft and was powered by a 145 horsepower Chris-Craft six. This unusual craft is still in the Cayuga Lake area awaiting hull repair after colliding with an unlighted buoy. A total of 39 inboards were built between 1947 & 1956, developing a reputation as safe, comfortable boats for fishing or family fun. With larger and more powerful motors available, 16’, 17’ and 18’ strip-planked outboards were introduced between 1955 & 1959

            The peak year of Morehouse boat production was 1956, with twelve different models on display in the new full-service showroom that was once the restaurant. A total of 300 boats (one per workday with a labor force of eight) came out of the factory. Sizes ranged from 12 to 20 feet with the 14-foot fisherman one of the most popular models produced. Hundreds of 14-foot regulars and 14-foot Fishermans were shipped to boat liveries for livery use. Although Morehouse boats became well known in central New York State, buyers also came from throughout the Northeast, the Great Lakes region, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. Other than the factory on Cayuga Lake, the Hutchinson Boat Works in Alexandria Bay, New York was believed to be the only dealer for Morehouse boats. This arrangement evolved solely because the Thousand Islands region of the St. Lawrence River was a favorite fishing area of the Morehouse brothers. Recent information suggests the dealer network was extensive in New York State and possibly beyond its borders.

            The mid-fifties saw the introduction of fiberglass and aluminum in small craft hull designs, making the high labor content of planked construction unacceptably expensive. In an attempt to remain competitive, the Company bought rough-molded birch hulls in 14, 15, 16 and 18-foot lengths for finishing (adding decks, trim and hardware) at the Morehouse shop. These hulls were imported from the Industrial Shipping Company, Ltd. of Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia and sold by Cotton-Hanlon Lumber Company in Odessa, New York. But this only staved off the inevitable for a short time, and in 1961-62 Morehouse boat production was discontinued. The Company remained in operation selling and servicing boats and motors of several manufacturers becoming the largest full-service marina in the area offering expanded docking and boat storage facilities until 1978 when the doors were closed for the last time. In the meantime, Dick Morehouse sold his share of the Company to Bob in 1967 and devoted his time to the Morehouse Bait Farms. He passed away in 1982, Bob Morehouse died in 1988.

 Over the years, several thousand Morehouse boats were built. A few remain, mostly in upstate New York. Of the 39* inboards built, 8 are known to have been destroyed, but at least 21 others still exist. Some of the jigs and fixtures used in boat production have been donated to the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, New York. The others remain in the hands of the Morehouse family. The restaurant/showroom building and the lumber storage building are all that remain of the Morehouse complex. The Morehouse property was sold to the New York State Department of Parks and Recreation in 1982. The livery was demolished in 1983 and the manufacturing plant (old dance hall) was razed in 1993.

            The last Morehouse boat was built in 1970 long after regular production had ceased. It was, fittingly, like the first, a flat-bottomed craft of 20-feet. This heavy-duty workboat, framed in oak and planked with mahogany plywood, was bought by the State of New York along with other Morehouse properties that became part of Cayuga Lake State Park. This workboat was discovered in a storage building at Sampson State Park in 2001 and returned to the Cayuga Lake State Park facility for public display.

 * Recent findings indicate that more than 39 inboards were sold, based on deposit and delivery receipts. 

 Pictured right: Ford & Nancy Knight's 1954  Morehouse <18' 8cyl.> Pictured left Bob & Teddy  Myllymaki's 1954  Morehouse <18' 6cyl 95hp.>