Campobello Island (, also ) is the largest and only inhabited island in Campobello, a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in southwestern

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

, Canada, near the border with

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and nor ...

, United States. The island's permanent population in 2021 was 949. It is the site of the

Roosevelt Campobello International Park Roosevelt Campobello International Park preserves the house and surrounding landscape of the summer retreat of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt and their family. It is located on the southern tip of Campobello Island in the Canadian pro ...

and of Herring Cove Provincial Park. It has been governed as an incorporated

rural community In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descr ...

since 2010 but still receives some

local service district A local service district is a type of designated place in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. In the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) ...

(LSD) services from the province, being assessed for fire protection, policing, dog control, and general government, and is a member of the Southwest New Brunswick Service Commission (SNBSC). Despite the name, the rural community also includes all other islands in the parish. The island is part of Charlotte County, which was formed in 1784 when New Brunswick was partitioned from

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

Origin of name

In 1770, the entire island was granted to Capt. William Owen, who understated the size of the island to circumvent the size limit on land grants at the time. Owen renamed the island Campobello in punning honour of

Lord William Campbell Lord William Campbell (11 July 1730 – 4 September 1778) was from a Scottish family loyal to the House of Hanover. His father was John Campbell, 4th Duke of Argyll. From 1752 to 1760, he served in the Royal Navy in India. In 1762, becaus ...

, who was

Governor of Nova Scotia The following is a list of the governors and lieutenant governors of Nova Scotia. Though the present day office of the lieutenant governor in Nova Scotia came into being only upon the province's entry into Canadian Confederation in 1867, the po ...

at the time. Campobello Parish later took its name from the island.

History

The island was originally settled by the

Passamaquoddy The Passamaquoddy ( Maliseet-Passamaquoddy: ''Peskotomuhkati'') are a Native American/First Nations people who live in northeastern North America. Their traditional homeland, Peskotomuhkatik'','' straddles the Canadian province of New Brunswick ...

Nation, who called it Ebaghuit. The first Europeans were from the French expedition of Pierre Dugua de Mons and

Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; Fichier OrigineFor a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December 1635) was a Fr ...

, who founded the nearby Saint Croix Island settlement in 1604. France named the island Port aux Coquilles ("Seashell Harbour"). Following the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

, under terms of the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), the island became part of the British colony of

Fisherman at Malloch Beach, Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada, 1973

The population was increased by

United Empire Loyalist United Empire Loyalists (or simply Loyalists) is an honorific title which was first given by the 1st Lord Dorchester, the Governor of Quebec, and Governor General of The Canadas, to American Loyalists who resettled in British North America ...

s after the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. Smuggling was a major part of the island's prosperity around this time. During the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It be ...

the Royal Navy seized coastal lands of Maine as far south as the

Penobscot River The Penobscot River (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 22, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Maine. Including the river's ...

but returned them following the war, except for offshore islands. In 1817, the United States relinquished its claim to Campobello,

Deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...

, and Grand Manan islands, in exchange for islands in Cobscook Bay. In 1866, a band of more than 700 members of the Fenian Brotherhood arrived at the Maine shore opposite the island with the intention of seizing Campobello but were dispersed by British warships from Halifax.

British naval officer John James Robinson became owner of the island in 1857. In 1881, it was sold to a group of American businessmen, including

James Roosevelt James Roosevelt II (December 23, 1907 – August 13, 1991) was an American businessman, Marine, activist, and Democratic Party politician. The eldest son of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt, he served as an official Secret ...

. In the 1880s the island was developed as a resort

summer colony The term summer colony is often used, particularly in the United States, to describe well-known resorts and upper-class enclaves, typically located near the ocean or mountains of New England or the Great Lakes. In Canada, the term cottage count ...

for wealthy Canadians and Americans, as was nearby

St. Andrews, New Brunswick Saint Andrews (2016 population: 1,786) is a town in Charlotte County, New Brunswick, Canada. The historic town is a national historic site of Canada, bearing many characteristics of a typical 18th century British colonial settlement, includ ...

and

Bar Harbor, Maine Bar Harbor is a resort town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population is 5,089. During the summer and fall seasons, it is a popular tourist destination and, until a catastrophic fire ...

. A luxurious resort hotel and many grand estates were built. From 1883, the

Roosevelt family The Roosevelt family is an American political family from New York whose members have included two United States presidents, a First Lady of the United States, First Lady, and various merchants, bankers, politicians, inventors, clergymen, arti ...

made Campobello Island their summer home. By the mid-1800s, Campobello Island had a population in excess of 1,000, which grew to 1,230 by 1910.

Campobello Parish

In 1803, Campobello Island "with its appurtenances" was separated from West Isles Parish to establish Campo-Bello Parish. The boundary description was clarified in 1877 as " ing the Island so named, and other Islands to the south and east of Head Harbour passage, but west of Grand Manan." Available as a free ebook from Google Books. The name appeared in government acts as Campo Bello in 1850, 1854, 1877, and 1896, finally appearing as Campobello in 1903. The local service district of the parish of Campobello was established in 1969 to assess for community services, in this case to contract with an independent agency in

Lubec, Maine Lubec ( ) is a town in Washington County, Maine, United States. It is the easternmost municipality in the contiguous U.S. (see extreme points of the United States) and is the country's closest continental location to Africa. The town, with a ...

, to provide ambulance conveyance from Campobello to St. Stephen Hospital. Fire protection was added later in 1969 first aid & ambulance services in 1984, and recreational facilities in 1998. The entire parish was incorporated as the Rural Community of Campobello Island in November 2010 and the LSD dissolved. The civil parish continues to exist.

Geography

The island is at the entrance to Passamaquoddy Bay, adjacent to the entrance to Cobscook Bay, and within the

Bay of Fundy The Bay of Fundy (french: Baie de Fundy) is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its extremely high tidal range is t ...

. The island is one of the Fundy Islands. The island has no road connection to the rest of Canada; it is connected by the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Bridge to nearby

. Reaching mainland Canada by car without crossing an international border is possible only during the summer season and requires two separate ferry trips, first to nearby Deer Island, then to L'Etete. The ferry to Deer Island was stopped in 2017 after the boat sank, leaving the island without a direct connection to the rest of Canada. Service was restored and became year-round due to the COVID pandemic. The jurisdiction of the eponymous rural community and of the census division include Head Harbour Island. Measuring long and about wide, it has an area of . On the north is a high bluff headland, East Quoddy Point. On the west are Charley Point and the Mulholland Point navigation light.

Economy

The island has several good harbours, and the majority of residents are employed in the fishing,

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...

or tourism industries. The two major tourist attractions on the island are Herring Cove Provincial Park and Roosevelt Campobello International Park. The latter was created in 1964 and was officially opened by U.S. President

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

and Canadian Prime Minister

Lester Pearson Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian scholar, statesman, diplomat, and politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968. Born in Newtonbrook, Ontario (now part of ...

in 1966.

Infrastructure

The island's only highway, Route 774, is connected by the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Bridge to

– the easternmost town in the continental United States. The only transportation link with the rest of Canada is a seasonal ferry service to Deer Island Point, New Brunswick, on Deer Island. Mail delivered to the community goes through the United States. The United States Customs and Border Protection service began searching packages to/from the island in 2019, prompting outcry from residents, and debates in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Commo ...

, due to privacy and sovereignty concerns. In late 2020, residents renewed their demands for the Canadian government to build a bridge to the New Brunswick mainland because the current ferry boat cannot operate in winter. (Three other New Brunswick islands do benefit from year-round ferry service.) Driving to other points in Canada required travel into Maine via the bridge, difficult during the restrictions imposed on both sides of the border during the

COVID-19 pandemic in North America The first cases of the COVID-19 pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 in North America were reported in the United States on 23 January 2020. Cases were reported in all North American countries after Saint Kitts and Nevis confirmed a case on ...

. The border closure was particularly problematic, since it prohibited driving to and from the island, except for essential purposes. The government agreed to pay for an extension of the ferry service until 10 January 2021 but, afterwards, winter weather would make sailing the small ferry too dangerous. Islanders interviewed by the

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and par ...

said that the restrictions were also causing serious problems for services attempting to reach the island, but insisted that the need for a bridge, or year-round ferry service, was long-standing and not just relevant during the pandemic. One of the residents made this comment: "You have to live there to see how bad it is when you don't have a road to your own country". In an interview, Member of Parliament for the region, John Williamson, made no promises but offered a glimmer of hope: "I think we’re in a position that some infrastructure dollars could be made available once the province has a plan and proposal ready to submit".

Education

The island has one school, Campobello Island Consolidated School, for all school grades, in the

Anglophone South School District The Anglophone South School District (ASD-S) is a Canadian school district in New Brunswick. Anglophone South is an Anglophone district operating 70 public schools (gr. K-12) in Saint John, Charlotte, Kings, and part of Queens Queens is a ...

Communities

Communities within the rural community. Remainder of parish on maps 108, 117, 118, 129, and 130 at same site. Remainder of parish on mapbook 503 at same site. * North Road * Otter Cove * Welshpool * Wilsons Beach

Bodies of water

Bodies of waterNot including brooks, ponds or coves. at least partly within the rural community. * Friars Bay * Lake Glensevern * Harbour de Lute * Head Harbour * Head Harbour Passage * Lubec Channel * Lubec Narrows * Mill Cove Creek * Mill Stream * Quoddy Narrows * Passamaquoddy Bay

Other islands

Other named islands within the rural community. * Duck Islands * Duck Rock * Head Harbour Island * Little Island * Sugar Loaf Rock

Conservation areas

Conservation areas at least partly within the rural community. * Herring Cove Provincial Park *

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultu ...

, Campobello Island had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Language

Notes

References

External links

{{Authority control Communities in Charlotte County, New Brunswick Former local service districts of New Brunswick Coastal islands of New Brunswick Rural communities in New Brunswick