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Campobello sits in close proximity to Lubec, Maine.
The island is connected to the State of Maine via the
Roosevelt International Bridge.
Campobello is one of the three Fundy Isles, and is
located in the spectacular Bay of Fundy,
which boasts the highest tides in the world.
Before this island was discovered by the Europeans,
(around 1607) the Passamaquoddy Indian Tribe hunted,
fished and harvested clams and sea urchins.
The first to see the rising sun each day, the
Passamaquoddy and other peoples of the
Dawnland - northern New England were also
among the first to feel the impact of Europeans".
The French were the first settlers who named the
island ”Port aux Coquilles“ because the island is in
the shape of a woman holding a dog. The woman
has feathers in her hair, hence the ”coquilles.“
The French established huts along the
northwest and southwest shores of the island.
And, a 1733 map also points out a settlement
established by the French on the northeast side
of Harbour de L’Outre.
THE FIRST ENGLISH SPEAKING SETTLERS
It is somewhat difficult to distinguish between traders
who frequented the coasts and islands, residing in
this area much of their time and having more or
less property here, and actual settlers who made
this area their home.
By the deposition of James Nickels, the only three
whom he regarded as settlers at the time of his visits supposedly were Prebble, of Pleasant Point, Chaffey,
of Indian Island, and Wilson, of Passamaquoddy island, afterwards called Campobello Island.
Prebble was probably John Preble, a son of Gen.
Jedediah Preble, commander of the fort at Penobscot
until 1764, and afterwards prominent as a leader
in the revolution. John Preble married a daughter
of Capt. John Frost, who was engaged in the Indian
trade at Pleasant Point and afterwards settled there.
He may have been at this time in charge of Frost’s
stores at that place. He built a two-storey log house
at Bowen’s Point; where he lived and died.
His daughter married John Mahar, and two of
her daughters by this marriage are now
living at Eastport.
Preble is mentioned as an interpreter at Campobello
in 1770; and took part in an exploration
of the Schoodiac in 1771.
The descendants of James Chaffey claim that he
came to Passamaquoddy to settle in 1760, and was
the first Englishman that ever wintered among
the islands of Passamaquoddy Bay.
There may be an error of four/five years in this date,
if it is intended to mark the beginning of his permanent
settlement. Chaffey was a native of Somersetshire,
England, and a goldsmith by trade.
Emigrating from London to Philadelphia, he shortly
afterwards came to Indian Island, where he built
a house and engaged in the fur trade, and where
he died in 1796, leaving a widow and a large family.
Robert Wilson, from whom Wilson’s Beach,
the oldest settlement on Campobello takes
its name, came to that place to settle in 1766.
He bought the improvements of an earlier settler,
a Bostonian named John Brown, who had cleared
about two acres of land. Wilson was an Irishman by
birth, and had emigrated to America and settled
near Boston some fifteen years before.
Having served as an officer in the ‘old French war,’
he claimed an officer’s allowance of 500 acres
under the king’s proclamation, Brown’s
improvements being considered as making
a part thereof.
His claim was strengthened by occupation, and
although a grant was never issued, it may be
regarded as the oldest under which a title to
land is held in Charlotte county to-day.
Wilson was drowned at Cobscook Falls in 1782.
Brown reportedly left Passamaquoddy after the
sale of his improvements to Wilson.
Wilson, if not preceded, might have been accompanied
or soon followed by several other men. Some of whom
were William Clark, Edmund Mahar and Luke Kelley,
afterwards among the first settlers on the Cobscook.
Clark was Wilson’s constant friend and companion,
and soon after coming to the island married a
younger sister of Wilson’s wife. He moved to the
site of the present town of Pembroke, in 1773,
and was drowned with Wilson at Cobscook Falls
in 1782.
In 1767 Campobello Island was granted to
Captain William Owen and his cousins, who
formed a company, called the Campobello
Company, for the purpose of founding
a settlement.
It is said that at this time there were two
families named Hunt and Flagg on the island.
Possibly Hunt, Flag and Wilson are the three
referred to in the following extract from
Captain Owen’s journal:
"On the 4th June, 1770, we moored in the north
eastern cove of Havre de Loutre, in the Island of Passamaquoddy...
...I found three New England families settled there
without legal authority, who cheerfully acquiesced in
coming under my jurisdiction...
...I fixed on a spot for building a town to be
called New Warrington, and formally named
the harbor Port Owen and the island Campobello..."
Captain Owen settled on the island and renamed it
”Campobello", three years later, bringing with him
about 38 settlers. Most of whom were indentured
servants which included brick layers, coopers, masons,
potters, laborourers, boat builders, gardeners, tailors,
barbers, servants and blacksmiths.
The hamlets flourished by selling dry goods, groceries,
spices, molasses, carpets, rum, suits and women’s
clothing. Commercial trade expanded and included
brickyards, a tannery, soap factory and sawmills.
Hand-lining and trawl fishing provided a good living
for many islanders.
Smoke Houses were a familiar sight dotting the
shore along with fish drying flakes. A good market
for fish was initiated with New York and became
an important industry.
Fishing continued to be the primary industry while
agricultural production increased.
The population numbered about 865 in 1980.
It increased to 1,039 by 1862.
The late 1860’s were lean years on the island.
Businesses collapsed and foreign trade and
shipping significantly declined.
Few came to live on the island during this period.
Shipping and trading had declined.
In 1871 a new industry came into existence.
Rum running became a lucrative business.
Liquor from European countries was shipped to the
island, where it was loaded onto fleets of
fishing schooners from Gloucester, Ma.
In 1880 a new industry bloomed. Wealthy people
who had extensive leisure time at their disposal
discovered the beauty of Campobello Island and
made it a popular summer destination.
It was not until a group from Boston and
New York businessmen however, who decided
to purchase the Owen property in 1881 that the
summer tourism trade started to prosper.
The new owners, operating under the name of
”The Campobello Company“ built large, luxurious hotels
which they then leased to private management.
They also sold land to both wealthy visitors
and residents.
James Roosevelt purchased several acres of
land and had a summer home built.
Other wealthy visitors did likewise.
Fishing remained themain industry on
the island but the construction of summer homes
helped to provide work and boost the economy for
the Island residents. The development of the
summer tourism trade lasted for about thirty years.
But the resort era was doomed to fail due to the
combined factors of the first world war and
the newfound popularity of the automobile,
which encouraged people to travel more widely.
The hotels on the island propsered until about 1910,
and in 1915 the Campobello Company sold it’s holdings
to a group of New York businessmen who established
the name of the Campobello Corporation.
Their interests were ultimately sold
to the remaining summer colony in 1930.
Whereupon the name was changed to the
Campobello Island Club.
The Dead River Land Company subsequently bought
the club holdings in 1957 and harvested lumber and
pulp wood for several years. Most of their holdings
were eventually sold to a new Campobello Company
who was interested in developing and subdividing
the land for interested people who wanted to
enjoy summer residences on the island.
Some of the persons involved were also connected
later to the well known ”White Water“ scandal in
the United States.
The tourism trade is once again a viable industry
In 1959, Herring Cove Provincial Park was established
through the generosity of one of the original
summer colonists.
Herring Cove Provincial Park continues to
provide summer visitors with a challenging and
scenic 9 hole golf course, camping and
RV facilities, along with picnic areas.
Woodland hiking trails attracted outdoor lovers,
as well as people who just loved to admire
and drink in nature.
With the FDR bridge connecting the island to
Lubec, Maine, over 100,000 visitors come to
the island every year.
The Roosevelt Campobello International Park
was established in 1964 after a gift of the cottage
and its grounds to the Canadian and
United States governments was presented.
Campobello Island continues to attract people
from a variety of countries, particularly the USA,
and the population swells during the summer months
with visitors who love and enjoy the island
just as much as the residents.
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