No one site can provide everything there is to know about the history of wooden canoes. This site, despite my best efforts, is no exception. Once you are done exploring the Wooden Canoe Museum, use the links below to extend your search for information.
The Wooden Canoe Heritage Association
The WCHA is the one organization to belong to if you have any interest at all in wooden canoes, including their history, use, construction, and restoration. The WCHA's journal, Wooden Canoe, is a top-notch quarterly magazine.
Wooden Canoe Heritage Association
The WCHA Forums is an active community of wooden canoe enthusiasts, with all kinds of information and advice to share. Take special note of the Serial Number Search Forum, where records for canoes with serial number of those canoes whose records survive (e.g. Old Town, Carleton, Kennebec) can be obtained.
Museums with collections that include wooden canoes and/or wooden canoe-related ephemera
Adirondack Experience (theadkx.org). The ADX, in Blue Mountain Lake, New York, has an extensive collection of wooden canoes and related ephemera. Search their online catalog of canoes, catalogs, and related artifacts: https://www.theadkx.org/collection/.
Antique Boat Museum (abm.org). Located in Clayton, New York, the ABM also has an extensive collection of wooden canoes and library/archival materials. Search their online catalog at https://antiqueboat.pastperfectonline.com
Canadian Canoe Museum (canoemuseum.ca) in Peterborough, Ontario, is Canada's national museum of canoes and canoeing, ranging from early indigenous bark and skin canoes and kayaks to modern day watercraft.
Mystic Seaport Museum (www.mysticseaport.org) in Mystic, Connecticut, has a number of wooden canoes, including an early Bowdish paddling canoe, several Robertson canoes, and several decked sailing canoes. Try to visit when the storage building is open to tours, as that is where most of the canoes are. Mystic Seaport Watercraft has been digitized, and can be viewed here: https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l036560/
Wisconsin Canoe Heritage Museum in Spooner, Wisconsin, is the only museum in the United States that is dedicated to collecting and interpreting wooden canoes. https://wisconsincanoeheritagemuseum.org/index.html
Other On-line Resources
Bark Canoes: A Digital Collection: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/899023e31da6401dae2bb50ebecbdff8
Still Life: a discussion about a photo of a decked sailing canoe that appeared in an 1889 magazine. https://photoseed.com/collection/single/still-life/