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

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, near the border with

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

, United States. 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 prov ...

, Head Harbour Lighthouse, and of Herring Cove Provincial Park. It has been an incorporated

rural community Rural Sociologists have identified a number of different types of rural communities, which have arisen as a result of changing economic trends within rural regions of industrial nations. The basic trend seems to be one in which communities a ...

since 2010 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 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 ...

. In 1770, the island was granted to Capt. William Owen, who named it in honour of Lord William Campbell, 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 of Nova Scotia, lieutenant governor in Nova Scotia came into being only upon the province's entry into Can ...

, and noting "Campo Bello" meant "Beautiful Field" in Italian.

History

The island was originally settled by the

Passamaquoddy The Passamaquoddy (Maliseet-Passamaquoddy language, Passamaquoddy: ''Peskotomuhkati'', Plural: ''Peskotomuhkatiyik'') are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American/First Nations in Canada, First Nations people who live in northea ...

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 (; 13 August 1574#Fichier]For a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see #Ritch, RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December ...

, who founded the nearby Saint Croix Island, Maine, Saint Croix Island settlement in 1604.Pedersen, Mark. "Islands Rich in History", Leader-Post, April 13 1974 France named the island Port aux Coquilles ("Seashell Harbour"). It has been speculated that the fort of Jean Serreau di St Aubin, known to have been built somewhere in the Passamaquoddy Bay but vacated in the years surrounding

King William's War King William's War (also known as the Second Indian War, Father Baudoin's War, Castin's War, or the First Intercolonial War in French) was the North American theater of the Nine Years' War (1688–1697), also known as the War of the Grand Allian ...

and

Benjamin Church Benjamin Church may refer to: * Benjamin Church (physician) (1734–1778), effectively the first Surgeon General of the U.S. Army * Benjamin Church (ranger) (1639–1718), considered the father of the U.S. Army Rangers * Benjamin Church (carpenter) ...

's 1704 expulsion of the French from the Bay, may have been situated on Campobello Island. Following the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

, under terms of the

Treaty of Utrecht (1713) The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne of ...

, the island became part of the British colony of

. Its first post office opened in 1795. In 1770, the island was granted to Captain Owen who immediately set to work building a town he dubbed New Warrington (Wilson's Beach, today) but after only a year on the island in June 1771, Owen was recalled to active military service; he never returned to Campobello Island although still advertising for industrious farmers to help settle it before his 1778 death in India. The population was increased by

United Empire Loyalist United Empire Loyalist (UEL; or simply Loyalist) 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 Ameri ...

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 the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. Smuggling was a major part of the island's prosperity around this time, starting as soon as 1807. In later years, it was remarked that merchant ships secretly putting ashore at

Eastport, Maine Eastport is a city and archipelago in Washington County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,288 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making Eastport the least-populous city in Maine. The principal island is Moose Island, Maine, ...

would report in ledgers that they travelled to "Sweden" once or twice a day with their wares. The first major smuggling trial in the Bay of Fundy convicted Gillam Butler, of Campobello Island in 1796 of illegally importing US

whale oil Whale oil is oil obtained from the blubber of whales. Oil from the bowhead whale was sometimes known as train-oil, which comes from the Dutch word ''traan'' ("tear drop"). Sperm oil, a special kind of oil used in the cavities of sperm whales, ...

under the pretense it was harvested in New Brunswick.Craven, Paul. "Petty Justice: Low Law and the Sessions System in Charlotte County" During the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

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 W ...

but returned them following the war, except for offshore islands. Capt. Owen wrote to the Prince Regent, noting that if the Crown insisted on ordering Campobello residents to perform military drills on the mainland as he had cautioned against, the Crown may find Campobello fighting against it, and stating "the Crown alone, without our consent, has no right to tax us. In 1817, the United States relinquished its claim to Campobello,

Deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

, and

Grand Manan Grand Manan is a Canadian island in the Bay of Fundy, part of the province of New Brunswick. Grand Manan is also the name of an incorporated village, which includes the main island and numerous nearby islands; White Head Island, small islands n ...

islands, in exchange for islands in

Cobscook Bay Cobscook Bay is located in Washington County in the state of Maine. It opens into Passamaquoddy Bay, within the Bay of Fundy. Cobscook Bay is immediately south of the island city of Eastport, the main island of which (Moose Island) straddles th ...

. The provincial government of New Brunswick funded the construction of Head Harbour Lighthouse, or East Quoddy Head Light, in 1829; this light station would be a counterpart to West Quoddy Head Light which the United States built in the previous decades. As of 1842,

Thomas Wyer Thomas Wyer (1789 – December 23, 1848) was a political figure in New Brunswick. He represented Charlotte in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick from 1827 to 1840. As of 1842, Wyer was one of three commissioners of the lighthouses on ...

was one of three commissioners of the lighthouses on Machias Seal Island, Campobello and at Saint Andrews. WFW Owen renting out Campobello

In 1835, the illegitimate son of Captain Owen, Vice-Admiral

William Fitzwilliam Owen Vice Admiral William Fitzwilliam Owen (17 September 1774 – 3 November 1857), was a British naval officer and explorer. He is best known for his exploration of the west and east African coasts, discovery of the Seaflower Channel off the coa ...

, became sole proprietor of the island and took great interest in his advanced years in building the island community but struggled with an "addiction" to local women. In 1866, a band of more than 700 members of the

Fenian Brotherhood The Fenian Brotherhood () was an Irish republican organisation founded in the United States in 1858 by John O'Mahony and Michael Doheny. It was a precursor to Clan na Gael, a sister organisation to the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). Membe ...

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 John James Robinson-Owen (January 1811 – 1874) was a naval officer and political figure in England and New Brunswick. He represented Charlotte County in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick from 1850 to 1854. He was born in West Ha ...

became owner of the island in 1857 by virtue of having married Owen's daughter.Lorimer, John G. "History of Islands and Islets in the Bay of Fundy, Charlotte County, New Brunswick"
Archive.org copy
1876 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 officer, activist, and Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party politician. The eldest son of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor R ...

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

summer colony Summer or summertime is the hottest and brightest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, daylight hours are the longest and darkness hours are the shortest, with day ...

for wealthy Canadians and Americans, as was nearby

St. Andrews, New Brunswick Saint Andrews 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, including the original grid layo ...

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. The town is home to the College of the Atlantic, Jackson Laboratory, and MDI Biological Laborat ...

. 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, and various merchants, bankers, politicians, inventors, clergymen, artists, and socialites. The progeny ...

famously made Campobello Island their summer home.Pedersen, Mark. "Islands Rich in History", Leader-Post, April 13 1974 By the mid-1800s, Campobello Island had a population in excess of 1,000, which grew to 1,230 by 1910.

Geography

The island is at the entrance to

Passamaquoddy Bay Passamaquoddy Bay () is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy, between the U.S. state of Maine and the Canadian province of New Brunswick, at the mouth of the St. Croix River. Most of the bay lies within Canada, with its western shore bounded by Was ...

, adjacent to the entrance to

, and within the

Bay of Fundy The Bay of 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 tidal range is the highest in the world. The bay was ...

. The island is one of the

Fundy Islands The Fundy Islands, also known as the ''Fundy Isles'', is a term given to a group of Canadian islands in the Bay of Fundy along the southwestern coast of New Brunswick, Canada, in the provincial county of Charlotte. There are over 25 islands wit ...

. The island has no road connection to the rest of Canada; it is connected by the

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Bridge The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial Bridge is an international bridge which connects the community of Lubec, Maine in the United States with Campobello Island in the Canadian province of New Brunswick across the Lubec Narrows. The decked st ...

to nearby

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 ...

. 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. Nelu ...

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), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after assassination of John F. Kennedy, the assassination of John F. Ken ...

and Canadian Prime Minister

Lester Pearson Lester Bowles Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian politician, diplomat, statesman, and scholar who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968. He also served as Leader of the Liberal Party of C ...

in 1966.

Infrastructure

The island's only highway, Route 774, is connected by the

– 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.

United States Customs and Border Protection United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border guard, border ...

service began searching packages to the island, originating in Canada, in 2019, prompting outcry. In late 2020, residents renewed their demands for the Canadian government to build a bridge to the New Brunswick mainland given the current ferry cannot operate in winter (three other New Brunswick islands do benefit from year-round ferry services). Driving to mainland Canada requires travel into Maine via the bridge, which proved 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 2 ...

. The border closure meant driving to and from the island was prohibited, except for essential purposes. The government agreed to pay for an extension of the ferry service until 10 January 2021; however, winter weather after this was too dangerous. Member of Parliament John Williamson said "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". 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 public English Canadian, Anglophone school district in the Canadian province of New Brunswick that serves the southern part of the province, covering English-language public schools within the Sai ...

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 *

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 The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...

, 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