Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire How Common are These Boats in Tennessee?

Never seen one... I live on a lake in East TN...

If you're into cool vintage boats you should buy this, it wants to go home....
It's good with kids and pets and it likes to fish..

I crappie fished out of these boats a few times when I was a kid ,

Wesley Snipes used articulating oars in Federal Marshals ......

Been around a while.

On bigger boats Penn Yan had the tunnel drive. Never saw it with a B&S.

Gig Harbor sells them too. Late 1800s on Whitehalls.

Great video!!!!

The oaring system on the Calhoun boats have "Calhoun Boat Works Tiptonville TN" and the "1898" patent date in the iron casting.





This is the one Gig Harbor offers, kinda a modernized, machined and welded stainless version.



Other than the system being patent protected, it's funny it never "caught on" in the development of oar locks.
It makes perfect sense, it takes about 10 or 15 minutes to get use to using it verses any other row boat a guy has ever rowed.

The Calhoun oars have a neat characteristic.
When paddling if you let go of the oars from any position you may be in, the blade folds over flat and lays on top of the water and the handle side of the oar folds into a out of the way position. Neither can touch the boat when released, so when I am sight fishing and spot a fish I can just drop the oars and they tuck outta the way and never make a sound, they can't bump the boat.
I gotta feeling this wasn't a "by chance" characteristic, the old guy knew exactly what he was doing when he designed these.

Thats cool.

Informative thread, gents.

East Kansas=Ozarks West Kansas=Great Plains

East Tennessee=mountains West Tennessee=swamps

There is a building in Tiptonville that says Calhoun Boatworks but hasn't been occupied since I have been going there duck hunting(8-9yrs).

There is a state paid trapper that still runs one he came up to our blind 3 or 4 years ago in a Calhoun, really could run thru the cypress maze.Old Calhouns are scattered all over the yards of waterfront homes at Reelfoot but ASFAIK no one is building them anymore.

The lake is filled with stumps but can be navigated with caution.

The Gig Harbor rig looks as simple as the Calhoun oaring system.


But of course there are those that have completely over thought the forward rowing concept..
They should have just left it to the Calhoun guy that patented the design in the 1890's

Interesting boats........... Somewhat like an Adirondack Guide boat except the Adirondack version seems more canoe like, IIRC. Similar seating, though.

I really enjoy seeing the various regional small boat designs that have evolved for local situations and I'd never heard of this one. Really interesting thread.

Yeah Sako,you’re in a whole different country...

Looks like a dandy swamp donkey hunter, also . Maybe not so much as a cargo hauler later.

As a used boat, and using the new price listing, I'd not go less than $1,000. Start higher - say at least $1500.

Are they still made? If not, patents permitting, looks like a fine hobby for a retired old fug...turning some more out. Supplemental income.

bet it does not work well in a squall of 20-30 mph winds

It'd haul a Moose, absolutely no problem. I've had 4 men and a dog in mine and I didn't even notice the load. It's a pretty wide boat but still lite enough one guy can get it in and out of a truck bed rather easy.


I think you are spot on but the problem being, Dale gave them away. It was a passion not a job, he had a full time job and as he aged he made fewer and fewer. In his last years he just made them to order. This is one of the reasons his son didn't continue with the family tradition of boat building. His son is a electrician, he went over the books with his dad late in life and found he was selling the boats for what he had in them for costs.
You could get a new 17 1/2 footer and 3 seats with a new 8hp Honda in it for $2250.00, I think the 15 1/5 ft. with motor was $2000.00.

This was late 90's early 2000's. In the later years they all had motors. I have reason to believe mine was built in the early 60's making it close to 60 years old. It'd been stored indoors most it's life. The guy I bought it from had bought it from his neighbors wife when her husband died. That guy had bought it the same way but from the original owner.
Over the last 10 years I have seen 3 with motors in various condition listed for sale, never seen an older one like mine without the motor posted for sale. I've seen a few trashed ones in wooden boat forums people were attempting to rebuild.

Just because Dale gave them away, is it a tradition that must be carried on?

Maybe.......

There was one listed on Ebay that just closed without even getting a bid, it had a $2K minimum. It's an estate sale, the boat has never been in the water, never titled, motor has never had gas in it.
15 1/2 ft with a 8hp Honda, it's sitting on a trailer in Yellville, Arkansas.

For anyone in the region, this boat could probably still be purchased by contacting the seller. It's a giveaway and gorgeous, it's new, right outta the box, been in storage all it's life.

This boat was purchased in Tennessee from Dale Calhoun, Calhoun Boat Works, Tiptonville, Tennessee on the 24th. day of September, 1997, moved to Illinois and then Arkansas where it has been in storage. This boat has never been licensed and comes with its Certificate of Origin. Magic Tilt Trailer has good title and in nice condition. Boat has never been titled or in the water. It shows minor wear and tear from the years but no evidence that it has been used. I am selling this boat for an estate and will be available for pick up after full payment, cash. If new owner wants to make arrangements to have delivered by their shipper, assistance will be made available. Please look at the 24 photos that I have made available, ask questions and bid accordingly. Boat is located 3 hours north of Little Rock, Ar. and close to Norfork and Bull Shoals Lakes.
Seller Notes:“Boat, Motor and Trailer are in lightly used condition. Motor was checked out by a small engine repairman and motor started immediately. He said that it never has had gas in it, engine shows no sign of ever been used. Please look at numerous photos, ask questions and bid accordingly.”

Wiring for the electric start appears untouched.

Link to Ebay posting



Not by the Calhouns or anyone else that I can find. Dale passed away 13 years ago.


Name: Wilton Dale Calhoun
Sex: M
Birth: 24 JUL 1935 in Obion Co, Tennessee
Death: 6 APR 2007 in Paducah, McCracken Co, Kentucky
Burial: Cobbs Chapel Cemetery, Obion Co, Tennessee

Dale Calhoun, a fourth generation craftsman whose stump jumping boats with bow facing oars and small inboard engines are an icon for Reelfoot Lake, died Friday at Lourdes Hospital in Paducah.

He died one year to the day after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

He was 71.

He also had a long and varied career in law enforcement.

Calhoun Boat Works was a popular stop for tourists in recent years and Dale seemed to enjoy visiting and describing his craft almost as much as making the boats.

"When he came back from the Smithsonian, I think he had enjoyed meeting the people and talking with them so much, that it influenced his decision to move his boat shop from where it was (near the Washout) to Main Street (Lake Drive), so to speak," said Bill Gates of the Kentucky Folklife Program, who had worked with him on several projects. Gates was also a speaker at the funeral service.

Calhoun was featured in dozens, if not hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles, TV shows, the Smithsonian Institute, the 1982 Worlds Fair at Knoxville and more. He built boats on the National Mall at Washington D.C. He was an extra in the hit movie U.S. Marshals and also listed in the credits as "technical advisor."

His, and his father and grandfather's boats were once virtually the only ones used on Reelfoot Lake. In recent years they had been replaced by jon boats and outboards but there remained a demand for the unique craft and Calhoun, with the help of his son, Billy "Doc" Calhoun, continued to turn out boats until he became too sick to go to the boat works located near Boyette's Dining Room on the south side of the lake.

Billy Calhoun says he plans to continue the tradition for a fifth generation, although perhaps not on the scale his father did. Billy has a full time electrical contracting business and lives in nearby Obion County.

"He was amazing," said his son. "After he got sick I helped him make five or six boats and when I saw he did that all by himself, I couldn't believe it. I'd have to get my wife and son to help me.

"He loved what he did. One time I sat down and figured up what he had in one of the boats and I'm not sure he made a penny off them. He just liked to do it."

His wife Joanne said when he was younger he could turn out two boats a week but it had been some years since he worked at that pace. Each boat was handcrafted exclusively from cypress wood
Calhoun died just a few days short of his and wife Joanne's 55th wedding anniversary.

"He made boats the entire 55 years," she said. "He loved it. When he was home sick he would say, `If I could just build one more boat.'"

When he served as a captain at Lake County Correctional Facility, the boat works gave him an escape from the pressures of the job. "When he would get home, he would love to go out there and work on the boats and just unwind," she recalled.

"I thought he was a great man and an ambassador for the tradition and culture of Reelfoot Lake," said Gates. "People would ask him a question like, `How much?' and he would answer and also give them a talk about how it was used and the tradition of the area. He was great and he liked working with kids."

He was also a doting grandfather and when his illness kept him from going to Troy to see his grandson, Hunter "Doc" Calhoun, who was a standout running back for the Obion County Rebels, some of that Calhoun ingenuity so evident in the lake boats, kicked in.

"We couldn't pick up the game on the radio in the house," said Joanne. "But we could in the car. Dale fixed up a baby monitor, put it out by the radio in the car and then we took the other one in the den and listened to the game over the car radio though the monitor."

"It was sort of sad to see the resorts begin fading the lake boats out," said Tony White, owner of White's Landing/Cypress Point Resorts. "There were a lot of factors including maintenance, flotation and insurance liability"

Dale once said he thought he had shipped boats to every state in the lower 48 and believed one had made its way to Alaska.

He was an expert wood worker and also made boat shelves, seats, paddles, bar stools and almost anything else made of wood.

Calhoun was honored on both the state and national level and received personal notes from both President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton.

He was named a National Heritage Fellow in 1998.

He was also a recipient from the National Endowment of the Arts. His boats are on display at the Tennessee State Museum, the Tiptonville City Museum and Reelfoot Lake Visitor's Center.
Joanne said she was not sure but it's said one was on display at the Smithsonian.

Wilton Dale Calhoun was born in Obion County, Tennessee, on July 24, 1935.

He was the son of the late William and Linnie Mae Walton Calhoun.

He is survived by his wife, Joanne Brown Calhoun, one son, William Dale "Doc" Calhoun of Hornbeak, and one daughter, Teresa Gail Calhoun Cantrell of Tiptonville.

He is survived by one brother, Rayford Don Calhoun of Aurora, Ky., and one sister, Joan Calhoun of Gilbertsville, Ky.

He had five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

He was a member of Crockett Chapel Methodist Church.

He was a retired captain with the Department of Corrections at Lake County Regional, former Tiptonville chief of police and a former deputy with the Lake County Sheriff's Department.

Services were held at First United Methodist Church in Tiptonville on Monday, April 9, with the Rev. James Calhoun and Rev. Ed Endsley officiating.

Pallbearers were Charles David Hooper, Ryan Boyd, Jeremy Hearn, Chad Hearn, Donnie Owens and Wayne Hatley.

Honorary pallbearers were Ralph Strain, Jerry Don Yates, Howard Vaughn, Dale Rogers, Jack Freeman and Mike Fraley.

Visitation was held Sunday at the Tiptonville First United Methodist Church.

Burial was at Cobb's Chapel Cemetery in Obion County.

The family requested that memorials be made to the First Methodist Church in Tiptonville.

I'm glad you enjoy it.
I've collected the data I posted here for years.
Rick has done a great job of making these forums searchable, it makes for good archiving of obscure interesting topics others may be searching the web for.

An hour after making the first post here I could find it via Google search engine by topic or image search.
Now lets go for a related video....

idunno about 20-30 but I have been out in 10 to 15 mph winds and was surprised that it didn't have canoe like characteristics.

It has more weight to it than your typical canoe might have and I think that helps.
It paddled rather easily in the winds I found myself in.

It was just a rainy, windy day and we decided to go for it and and do some fishing, all went well.
In 20's to 30's I'd imagine you'd feel it but I don't think you'd get blown to shore like a canoe or inflatable does.

Kinda makes you want to load up a bunch of gear & food, drop it in the water, and take off for a week or three.

I do not know if it is current but there is a phone number still listed.


Calhoun Boat Works
Boats & Yachts in Tiptonville, TN

2600 State Route 21 E

Tiptonville, TN 38079 - Lake County

(731) 253-7777