Campobello Island New Brunswick French Exploration

Measuring 14 kilometres (9 miles) long and about 5 km (3 miles) wide, it has an area of approximately 70 km² (30 miles²). In addition to the Lubec bridge, the island is accessible in the summer months by an automobile ferry from nearby Deer Island and from there via another ferry to mainland New Brunswick. The island's permanent population in 2001 was 1,195. The majority of residents are employed in the fishing/ aquacultureAquaculture (sometimes misspelled "aquiculture") is the cultivation of natural produce, such as fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants, of aquatic environments. Mariculture is specifically marine aquaculture, and thus is a subset of aquaculture. Some example or tourismTourism can be defined as the act of travel for the purpose of recreation, and the provision of services for this act. A tourist is someone who travels at least fifty miles from home, as defined by the World Tourism Organization (a United Nations body). industries.

The island was originally settled by the PassamaquoddyPassamaquoddy is the name of a tribe of Native Americans and are located in northeastern North America, primarily in Maine and New Brunswick. The Passamaqoddy lacked a written history before the arrival of Europeans but do have an extensive oral tradition Nation who called it Ebaghuit.

1 French exploration

The first Europeans were reportedly from the FrenchThe French Republic or France ( French: Republique francaise or France is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. expedition of Pierre Dugua de Monts (Sieur de Monts) and Samuel de ChamplainSamuel de Champlain by Theophile Hamel (1870) Samuel de Champlain 1567 1635 was a French geographer, draftsman, explorer and founder of Quebec City. Born in Brouage, France, much of Champlain's early life is unknown. His first trip to North America was on who founded the nearby St. Croix Island settlementSee also Saint Croix an island in the United States Virgin Islands Saint Croix Island or Dochet Island as it is called today, is a small uninhabited island in Maine located at 45º 07' 42" N latitude, 067º 08' 02" W longitude, near the mouth of the Saint C in 1604Events January 14 Hampton Court conference with James I of England, the Anglican bishops and representatives of Puritans September 20 Capture of Ostend by Spanish forces under Ambrosio Spinola after a three year siege. November 1 At Whitehall Palace in Lo. France named the island Port aux Coquilles ("Shell Harbour"). Following the War of the Spanish Succession, under terms of the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), the island came under British control and was placed in the colony of Nova Scotia, having ceased to be included in the French colony of l'Acadie.

2 British settlement

In 1770, a grant of the island was made to Captain William Owen (1737-1778) of the Royal Navy who renamed it Campobello. The island's name was derived from Britain's Governor of Nova Scotia, Lord William Campbell , and was mixed with "bello" from the French, Spanish and Italian origins of the word "beautiful". The creation of the colony of New Brunswick in 1784 saw the island transferred to the new jurisdiction and by the end of the 18th century, the small island had a thriving community and economy, partly aided by Loyalist refugees fleeing the American Revolutionary War. During the War of 1812 the British Royal Navy seized coastal lands of Maine as far south as the Penobscot River but returned them following the war. In 1817 the U.S. relinquished its claim for the Fundy Isles (Campobello, Deer, and Grand Manan Islands). By the mid 19th century Campobello Island had a population in excess of 1,000.

3 Fenian raid

In 1866, a Fenian Brotherhood war party of 700+ members arrived at the Maine shore opposite the island with the intention of seizing Campobello from the British. The US government intervened and a military force dispersed the marauders. This action served to reinforce the idea of protection for New Brunswick by joining with the British North American colonies of Nova Scotia, Canada East, and Canada West in Confederation to form the Dominion of Canada.

4 Franklin D. Roosevelt

Campobello has always relied heavily on fishing as the mainstay of the island economy, however in the 1880s following the acquisition of some island properties by private American investors, a luxurious resort hotel was built and the island became a popular summer vacation spot for wealthy Canadians and Americans, many of whom built grand estates there.

Included in this group was Sara Delano and her husband James Roosevelt Sr. from New York. Sara Delano had a number of Delano cousins living in Maine and Campobello offered a beautiful summer retreat where their family-members could easily visit. From 1883 onward, the Roosevelt family made Cammpobello Island their summer home. Their son, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, President of the United States, would spend his summers on Campobello from the age of one until, as an adult, he acquired a larger property - a 34 room "cottage" - which he would use as a summer retreat until 1936. It was here that Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Jr., a future American statesman himself, was born as a Canadian citizen in the summer of 1914.

During the 20th century, the island's prosperity from its wealthy visitors declined with the change in lifestyles brought on by a new mobility from automobiles, airplanes, and air conditioning in large inland cities. Nonetheless, for President Roosevelt, the tranquility was exactly what he and his family cherished and the property remained in their hands until Eleanor Roosevelt's death in 1962.

The Roosevelt Campobello International Bridge , which connects the island to the U.S. mainland at Lubec, was built in 1962 and brought a tourism revival, particularly after the 11 km² (2,800 acre) Roosevelt Campobello International Park was created in 1964, following a gift from the Roosevelt estate to the Canadian and United States governments.

In 1960, motion-picture producer Dore Schary and director Vincent J. Donehue made the film Sunrise at Campobello, based on Schary's Tony Award winning Broadway play of the same name. Starring Ralph Bellamy as Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the film covered the years 1921 to 1924 at Campobello Island and events leading up to Roosevelt's nomination as the Democratic Party's candidate for President.

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