Campobello Island, NB

Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada, lies across a free bridge from the town of Lubec, Maine.  The island boasts the historic Roosevelt Campobello International Park; a large provincial park with campground, RV-park, and golf course; and two lighthouses - including Head Harbor (East Quoddy) Light, New Brunswick's most photographed lighthouse.

Campobello Island was visited by Sieur de Mons and Samuel de Champlain in 1604, as they explored the area.  The first English settlers came to the island after the Acadians were expelled from Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley in 1755.  This was the expulsion that Longfellow romanticized in his poem "Evangeline." 

Bridge from Lubec to Campobello & Mulholland Light 

(Copyright Alana Ranney)

During the late 1700s and early 1800s, Campobello was a transfer point in the smuggling trade between Britain and the United States.  The next decades saw friction between Maine and New Brunswick over their border, so in 1842, the Webster-Ashburton Treaty set the boundary between Maine and the British colony of New Brunswick.  Campobello has been a part of New Brunswick ever since.

Yet the island continues to be tied to the United States.  Franklin Delano Roosevelt visited the island many times until 1939, calling Campobello his "beloved island."  The 2,800-acre ROOSEVELT CAMPOBELLO INTERNATIONAL PARK  was dedicated in 1964 as a memorial to the late President.  The park has a variety of natural areas, a visitor center, gardens, and offers tours of the Roosevelts' 34-room "summer cottage."

 Fishing continues to be an important island industry, but tourism also is important to Campobello's economy.  In addition to the International Park, visitors can enjoy birding, camping, golfing, hiking, kayaking, bicycling, and whale watching.

The island has a variety of lodging types, including the OWEN HOUSE, and LUPINE LODGE.  Several seasonal restaurants specialize in serving succulent seafood.  If you drink water from the underground stream at Barrel Well, tradition says you will return to Campobello Island.  Once you visit, you're sure to return.