( ) is the name of the former estate of

Alexander Graham Bell Alexander Graham Bell (; born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born Canadian Americans, Canadian-American inventor, scientist, and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He als ...

, in Victoria County,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, Canada. It refers to a peninsula jutting into

Cape Breton Island Cape Breton Island (, formerly '; or '; ) is a rugged and irregularly shaped island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18.7% of Nova Scotia's total area. Although ...

's scenic

Bras d'Or Lake Bras d'Or Lake (Mi'kmaq language, Mi'kmawi'simk: Pitupaq) is an irregular estuary in the centre of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada. It has a connection to the open sea, and is tidal. It also has inflows of fresh water from rivers, ma ...

approximately southeast of the village of Baddeck, forming the southeastern shore of Baddeck Bay. The peninsula was known to the

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Mi'kmaw'' or ''Mi'gmaw''; ; , and formerly Micmac) are an Indigenous group of people of the Northeastern Woodlands, native to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, New Bru ...

as , roughly translated to "Red Head" due to the reddish sandstone rocks at the tip of the peninsula. The name —meaning "Beautiful Mountain" in

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

—is thought to have been given to the peninsula by Bell, who purchased approximately to form the estate in the late 1880s. In July 2005, the Nova Scotia Civic Address Project review changed the status of from a "generic locality" to a "community".

Alexander Graham Bell

Wealthy from his successful invention and marketing of the

telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

, inventor

and his wife, Mabel, undertook a cruising vacation in 1885 along the coast of eastern North America with their intended destination being

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

to view a mining operation that Mabel's father,

Gardiner Greene Hubbard Gardiner Greene Hubbard (August 25, 1822 – December 11, 1897) was an American lawyer, financier, and community leader. He was a founder and first president of the National Geographic Society; a founder and the first president of the Bell Teleph ...

, had invested in. Along the way, the accidental grounding of their passenger boat made them serendipitously discover Cape Breton's

, and they were enthralled by their surroundings. Its landscape, climate, and Scottish traditions and culture were reminiscent of his birthplace in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The Bells lived increasingly on from about 1888 until his death in 1922, initially only in the summer and then later often year-round. Bell constructed a laboratory and boatyard on this property, conducting experiments in powered

flight Flight or flying is the motion (physics), motion of an Physical object, object through an atmosphere, or through the vacuum of Outer space, space, without contacting any planetary surface. This can be achieved by generating aerodynamic lift ass ...

and

hydrofoil A hydrofoil is a lifting surface, or foil, that operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to aerofoils used by aeroplanes. Boats that use hydrofoil technology are also simply termed hydrofoils. As a hydrofoil craft gains sp ...

technology, among many other things. Some of his most notable accomplishments at included the first manned flight of an airplane in the

British Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an international association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire The B ...

(by the AEA Silver Dart) in 1909, plus the

HD-4 ''HD-4'' or ''Hydrodome number 4'' was an early research hydrofoil watercraft developed by the scientist Alexander Graham Bell. It was designed and built at the Bell Boatyard on Bell's Beinn Bhreagh estate near Baddeck, Nova Scotia. In 191 ...

, a hydrofoil boat designed by Frederick Walker Baldwin and Bell, and built at . Designed as a

submarine chaser A submarine chaser or subchaser is a type of small naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare. They encompass designs that are now largely obsolete, but which played an important role in the wars of the first half of th ...

and powered by

aircraft engine An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of an aircraft propulsion system. Aircraft using power components are referred to as powered flight. Most aircraft engines are either piston engines or gas turbin ...

s, their vessel set a world watercraft speed record of in 1919, which remained unbroken for many years. The Bells were both buried atop mountain, on the estate, overlooking Bras d'Or Lake. The estate owned by the Bells is on the peninsula at the end of Road. It is now owned by their many descendants, is not open to the public, and is not visible from Road. The Bells' first residence on , the "Lodge", was built in 1888. The second and larger home, Hall (known locally as "The Point") was built in 1893. Both are visible from Baddeck, across Baddeck Bay. More information and pictures of the estate can be found by visiting the

Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site is a property in Baddeck, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, overlooking the Bras d'Or Lakes. The site is a unit of Parks Canada, the national park system, and includes the Alexander Graham Bell N ...

, a national park system unit and museum managed by

Parks Canada Parks Canada ()Parks Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Parks Canada Agency (). is the agency of the Government of Canada which manages the country's 37 National Parks, three National Marine Co ...

, which contains many objects that were donated to the nation by Bell's descendants. The museum was designated a National Historic Site in 1952, while Hall was named a National Historic Site in 2018.Government of Canada Announces New National Historic Designations
Parks Canada news release, January 12, 2018

National Geographic Society maps

Alexander Graham Bell's father-in-law, Gardiner Greene Hubbard, was the first president of the

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, natural sc ...

and Bell was its second president. Bell's son-in-law Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor was president of the

for many years, and his grandson, Melville Bell Grosvenor, and great-grandson Gilbert Melville Grosvenor were editors of the

National Geographic Magazine ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

and also presidents of the society. Perhaps as a result, both or Baddeck, the nearest town, are prominently displayed in ''National Geographic'' maps of the area, despite their relatively small size.

Gallery

File:Mabel and Alexander Graham Bell rowing in Beinn Bhreagh Harbor-1890s.jpg, 's little harbor offered the Bells opportunities for recreation, and later a shelter area for experiments in aviation and hydrofoils. File:Alexander Graham Bell with three granddaughters.jpg, Alexander Graham Bell relaxing on with three of his granddaughters. File:The Late Dr Bell and Mrs Bell on Beinn Bhreagh.jpg, Mabel and Alexander Graham Bell were depicted in a postcard walking in front of their home, Hall. File:Beinn Bhreagh across the bay from the town of Baddeck, Nova Scotia, 1906.jpg, Red Head Point and the peninsula of can be seen across the bay from the town of Baddeck, Nova Scotia in a 1906 postcard. File:The town of Baddeck can be seen across the bay from one of the lookouts on Beinn Bhreagh..jpg, The town of Baddeck can be seen from one of the lookouts on in a postcard from the 1920s.

References

{{Baddeck Alexander Graham Bell Canadian Gaelic Unincorporated communities in Nova Scotia National Geographic Society

Alexander Graham Bell

National Geographic Society maps

Gallery

See also

References