Campobello, the beloved isle of Franklin Delano
Roosevelt. (Weather conditions may affect the ferry schedule so check before
you make final plans. A toll-free international bridge from Lubec, Maine, is an
alternate route.) The 34-room Roosevelt cottage is the focal point of the
Roosevelt Campobello International Park and Herring Cove (golf, lodge,
campgrounds, beach, hiking.)
Located in the Bay of Fundy, northwest of Grand Manan,
Campobello Island was originally known by the Passomoquoddy name Ebaghuit
("lying parallel to the land.") and later called "Great Island of the
Passamoquoddy" by Captain Cyprian Southack in 1733. In 1770, a grant of the
island was made to Captain William Owen (1737-1778) of the Royal Navy. Owen
named the island in 1770. He later wrote:
"I renamed
the island Campobello, the latter partly complimentary and punning on the name
of the Governor of the Province, 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."
Owen's illegitimate son, William
Fitz-William Owen (1774-1857) became the proprietor of the island in 1835. A
surveyor and hydrographer, his work in Canada included systematic surveys of
the St. Lawrence River and lower Great Lakes. In his second career, Owen was
elected to the New Brunswick Assembly. Historian Paul Cornell noted that Owen
was "an exotic figure" who "looms larger than life in the island's oral
tradition" and who, unlike most of his peers, was addicted to women rather than
alcohol.
In the 20th century, the island became known as
the summer residence of U.S. president Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The island
was purchased in 1879 by a group of New York and Boston entrepreneurs and was
promoted as a summer resort for wealthy Americans. James Roosevelt (a vice
president of Delaware and Hudson Railway) bought four acres and a partially
completed house in 1883; the house was completed in 1885 and the Roosevelts -
James, Sara Delano and young Franklin - became permanent summer residents. From
1883, when he was a year old, until he was stricken by polio in 1921, FDR spent
most of his summers on the island. In 1910, Franklin Delano bought a larger
house, where he and his wife Eleanor and their five children summered. FDR's
last visit to the island was in 1936; he died in 1945.
If you're in search of information concerning
the Maine State Ferry Service,
up-to-date schedules are available 24
hours, toll-free at: 1-800-521-3939.
Messages are updated whenever changes
in schedules or vessles are made.
1-800-521-3939
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Campobello Island Tourism Association
