Campobello Island is the largest and only inhabited island in Campobello, a civil parish in southwestern New Brunswick, near the border with Maine. It has been governed as an incorporated rural community since 2010; despite the name, the rural community also includes all other islands in the parish. The island's permanent population in 2016 was 872. It is the site of the Roosevelt Campobello International Park and of Herring Cove Provincial Park. The island is part of Charlotte County, which was formed in 1784 when New Brunswick was partitioned from Nova Scotia. Campobello Parish was part of West Isles Parish until 1803, when it was erected as a separate parish. Campobello was claimed by the United States until the boundary in Passamaquoddy Bay was settled by commission in 1817.
History
The island was originally settled by the Passamaquoddy Nation, who called it Ebaghuit. The first Europeans were from the French expedition of Pierre Dugua de Mons and Samuel de Champlain, who founded the nearby Saint Croix Island settlement in 1604. France named the island Port aux Coquilles. Following the War of the Spanish Succession, under terms of the Treaty of Utrecht, the island became part of the British colony of Nova Scotia. In 1770, a grant of the island was made to Captain William Owen of the Royal Navy, who renamed it Campobello. The population was increased by United Empire Loyalists after the American Revolutionary War. Smuggling was a major part of the island's prosperity around this time. During the War of 1812 the Royal Navy seized coastal lands of Maine as far south as the Penobscot River but returned them following the war, except for offshore islands. In 1817, the United States relinquished its claim to Campobello, Deer, 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. In the 1880s the island was developed as a resort summer colony for wealthy Canadians and Americans, as was nearby St. Andrews, New Brunswick and Bar Harbor, Maine. A luxurious resort hotel and many grand estates were built. From 1883, the Roosevelt family 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.
Geography
The island is at the entrance to Passamaquoddy Bay, adjacent to the entrance to Cobscook Bay, and within the Bay of Fundy. 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 Lubec, Maine. 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 stopped in 2017, leaving the island without a direct connection to the rest of Canada. 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 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 and Canadian Prime MinisterLester Pearson in 1966.
Infrastructure
The island's only highway, Route 774, is connected by the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Bridge to Lubec, Maine – 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 U.S. began searching packages to/from the island in 2019, prompting outcry from residents.
