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924 Rte 774- Unit 3 |
New Brunswick Tourism Region : Fundy Shore
Description From Owner:
- The 70 sq km island was first known by its Passamaquoddy name Ebaghuit, translated as 'lying parallel with the land.'
- In 1733 Capt. Cyprian Southack named it Great Island of Passamaquoddy.
- In 1770 the island was granted to Capt. William Owen (1737-1778) of the Royal Navy. He renamed the island Campobello, explaining:
- 'I renamed the island Campobello, the latter partly complimentary and punning on the name of the governor of the province (which was then Nova Scotia)
- Lord William Campbell, and partly as applicable to the nature of the soil and fine appearance of the island, Campobello in Spanish and Italian being, I presume, synonymous to the French Beau-Champ.'
- In 1835, Capt. Owen's illegitimate son William Fitz-William Owen (1774-1857) became the sole proprietor of the island. He had inherited his father's flair for the unconventional and earlier had achieved fame as a surveyor and hydrographer.
- His work included systematic surveys of the St. Lawrence R. and the lower Great Lakes. Henry Wolsey Bayfield was among those who learned surveying under Owen's direction.
- Owen was elected to the New Brunswick Assembly and later was appointed to the legislative council. Historian Paul Cornell described him as: 'an exotic figure who became an admiral, Owen looms larger than life in the island's oral tradition.
- An authoritative, aging man who was essentially benevolent in his intentions, he was not like many of his peers, addicted to alcohol, but rather to women.'
- Campobello Island gained fame as the summer home of U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945), who nicknamed the place 'Beloved Isle.
- The Roosevelt Memorial Bridge across Lubec Narrows, linking the island to the State of Maine, was built in 1962.
- In 1964 the Roosevelt Campobello International Park, an area of 1,158 hectares (2,800 acres) surrounding the late president's Dutch-gabled summer cottage, was opened.
- At nearby Herring Cove Provincial Park at 136 Herring Cove Road there is whale-watching in the Grand Manan Channel and hiking trails along old carriage roads used by the Roosevelt family.
- Head Harbour Lightstation, also known as East Quoddy Head Light station, established in 1829 is the second oldest lighthouse in New Brunswick and is still active.
- It is an octagonal wooden tower at 210 Head Harbour Road and accessible by foot and only at low tide. Mulholland Point Lighthouse is part of the Roosevelt Campobello International Park and was an octagonal wooden tower built in 1885.
- Take the first road to the left off Route 774 after the International Bridge and follow Narrows Road to the parking area at the end.
- With permission from 'New Brunswick Place Names' David E. Scott 2009
Address of this page: http://nb.ruralroutes.com/CampobelloIsland