Why did the Roosevelts come to Campobello Island? In the 1880s rich families from New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Montreal and Ottawa came to Campobello by Rail and Steamship or private Yachts. At that time Campobello had 3 fashionable hotels. Several Families purchased land and started building expansive cottages.
|Franklin D. Roosevelt and his wife in the canoe to the right|
James Roosevelt, his wife Sara and one-year-old son Franklin first visited Campobello in 1883. James purchased a partially completed house on 1.6 hectares. Two years later the house was finished and the Roosevelts became yearly summer residents on Campobello. (This house is not longer standing) Now they could escape the opressive summer heat in New York and enjoy the lovely nature with outdoor summer activities.
|Franklin in a conversation with Passamaquoddy Tribal Chief William Neptune around 1920|
The building, today known as the Roosevelt Cottage was built in 1897 for another early Campobello visitor, Mrs. Hartmann Kuhn, who was fond of Eleanor Roosevelt, When Mrs. Hartmann Kuhn died she had put a provision in her will that F.D.R’s mother, Sara, could purchase the cottage for the low sum of $5000. Sara purchased the property in 1909.
From 1909 to the summer of 1921, Franklin, Eleanor and their children vacationed in what is now called “The Roosevelt Cottage”. It was in 1921 that Franklin, who was always an energetic and athletic man, contracted Polio. He was carried off the Island on a stretcher!
Even though Eleanor and the children continued to visit Campobello, F.D.R’s. growing political involvement soon limited his visits to a few days at a time.
During the years of 1929-1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt served as the Governor of New York State. Then he ran for President against Herbert Hoover and won in a landslide.
After the Polio attack Franklin did not return to Campobello for nearly 12 years and then only three times in 1933, 1936 and 1939.