By Ted W. Hall – Great-Grandson of George W. Hall, Finger Lakes Boating Museum,
Wine Country Classic Boats, Finger Lakes and North Coast Ohio Chapter of ACBS Member
In the Finger Lakes Boating Museum’s Copper Nail issue from Fall 2021, I wrote about my Great Grandfather, George W. Hall. He built approximately 40+ boats in the 1920’s and 30’s on Keuka Lake, in Branchport, NY. George Hall is recognized along with other local boat builders at the Finger Lakes Boating Museum. The “Trout Boat” was the style of row boats that he primarily constructed. He, along with several other boat builders around Keuka Lake, concentrated on building similar types of boats. George Hall and his wife,
George Hall pilots one of his rowboats.
Carrie Campbell Hall, operated Campbell’s Beach where they had cottages available for rent along with Hall-built boats for each cottage. Campbell’s Beach today is known as Camp Good Days, a wellness camp for families recovering from or being treated for cancer. The barn where George built his boats is still used by the camp today.
From Left to Right: Andrew Tompkins, Keith Frum Ted Hall, Ed Wightman.
I was able to join Ed Wightman, who persevered for over 20 years to see a George Hall rowboat built, and Keith Frum, who was a major museum volunteer in the construction of the Hall boats, to water test and row a reconstructed George Hall Trout Boat. This event took place at Campbell’s Beach where George Hall’s boats were originally built and where the cottages and boats were rented out by George and Carrie so long ago. Seeing a recreation of my Great Grandfather’s boat being rowed out of that same place where he built and rented boats will forever be a special memory for my family and I.
The modern-day construction of a George Hall boat started in the fall of 2000 when we transported the remaining pieces of boat #41 from Ohio to Ed Wightman’s boat restoration shop on Keuka Lake. Ed, along with Bill Oben, and the late Dan Sutherland, were able to draw a set of lines from a pretty rough collection of the remnants of the boat. The idea was that some day, if there was ever a Finger Lakes Boating Museum, which is now a reality thanks to the vision of Ed Wightman, Bill Oben, and so many others to name, that they might be able to build a George Hall “Trout Boat” for display in the museum. At that time, the only known remains of a George Hall boat were the parts of boat #41, and a model sailboat that George constructed for his grandsons named the “Ja-Bo-Ge-Ha.” Both have since been donated and are on display at the museum.
Lofting lines for a Hall rowboat.
In the fall of 2019, Ed Wightman, Keith Frum, George Thompson, Rick Powell, Kent Lewis, Peter Arena, Ken Sutherland and the late Rich Malecki began to build two George Hall “Trout Boats” from the lines drawn from boat #41 and from photos our family provided. Materials used in the construction of the row boats included red cedar for planking, ribs and gunwales made of white oak, African mahogany sappelle wood for the front and aft deck and transom, and copper clinch nails. After almost two years of dedicated construction by the museum volunteers,
two “reconstructed” George W. Hall boats were completed. One of the boats was auctioned as a fund raiser for the museum and remains on Keuka Lake.
The “George W. Hall” boat is now on display in the recently dedicated rowboat building #9, along with other rowboat boat builders of the Finger Lakes; Ben Reno, Henry Sutherland, Lynn Bauter, Fred Lacy, Seymour Smith, Charles Ernst, Charles Pilgrim, Adelbert Todd, Mitchell, and Penn Yan. Our family is very happy to be able to share with others in this history.
In September 2021, The Finger Lakes Boating Museum marked its seventh anniversary in Hammondsport, NY and continues to expand each year, preserving the boating history of the Finger Lakes region.
On exhibit in the Finger Lakes Boating Museum’s building #9.
Great story, beautiful boats that George produced!