Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick
Encyclopedia
Grand Manan Island is a Canadian
island, and the largest in the Bay of Fundy
. It is also the primary island in the Grand Manan Archipelago, sitting at the boundary between the Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of Maine
on the Atlantic coast. Grand Manan is jurisdictionally part of Charlotte County
in the province of New Brunswick
. As of 2006, the island had a population of 2,460.
Grand Manan is specifically located at coordinates 44.42N and 66.48W or right beside White Head Island. The island rests in the midwestern end of the Bay of Fundy, a body of water between the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia
, and home to some of the strongest tides in the world. Located 32 kilometres south of Blacks Harbour
, the point on mainland closest to the island is in Washington County, Maine
, near the town of Lubec
- the easternmost point of the continental United States, where the distance to the island measures 15 km (9.3 mi) across the Grand Manan Channel. Grand Manan is 34 km (21.1 mi) long and has a maximum width of 18 km (11.2 mi) with an area of 137 km² (53 miles²).
The vast majority of Grand Manan residents live on the eastern side of the island. Due to limited access, three-hundred-foot cliffs and high winds, the western side of the island is not residentially developed, although it does feature wind-power ventures and camps at Dark Harbour, a small dulsing
community and get-away destination for islanders. Grand Manan has a network of trails for all-terrain vehicles, hiking, mountain biking, nature walks, and presents a challenging landscape for jogging. There are a number of fresh-water ponds, lakes and beaches that are prime locations for sun-bathing, beach combing, and picnics. Other interesting finds on Grand Manan are magnetic sand, and “The Hole-In-The Wall” located in Whale Cove in the village of North Head. Anchorage Provincial Park
can be found on the island's southeastern coast between the communities of Grand Harbour and Seal Cove.
White Head Island, Gull Rock, Machias Seal Island
and North Rock
are part of the larger Grand Manan archipelago
; the latter two are approximately 15 kilometres southwest of Grand Manan Island. Both Machias Seal Island
and North Rock
are claimed by both Canada and the United States.
For administrative purposes, they form the most southerly part of New Brunswick. Machias Seal Island also houses the province's last remaining staffed lighthouse
. The light has been in continuous operation since 1832; the post of lighthousekeeper was withdrawn for cost-saving reasons in the 1990s, but soon reinstated to provide a human demonstration of national sovereignty
. Research is conducted on the island by the Atlantic Cooperative Wildlife Ecology Research Network at the University of New Brunswick
in Fredericton.
Grand Manan has a “split personality” regarding its geology. The western ⅔ of the island shows thick lava flows (basalt
) of Early Jurassic age, which are little changed from when they cooled around 201 million years (m.y.) ago. They are part of a massive “flood basalt
” that underlies most of the Bay of Fundy
, although the Grand Manan Basalt was later separated into its own rift basin by block faulting [ref. McHone, 2001]. The Fundy basalts are themselves only a small portion of the enormous Central Atlantic Magmatic Province
or CAMP, which was formed in a volcanic event preceding the breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea
in Early Jurassic time. These lava flows also crop out along the western shores of Nova Scotia
, where they are known as the North Mountain Basalt. Both there and on our island, many interesting minerals have filled the cracks and bubbles left by gases boiling out of the cooling lavas. They include zeolite
minerals such as chabazite, mesolite, stilbite, and heulandite, plus attractive quartz-related amethyst, agate, jasper, and many others. Good collecting areas include Seven Days Work, Indian Beach, and Bradford Cove. A few meters of siltstone are exposed under the basalt along the western shoreline, which by analogy with the Blomidon Formation in Nova Scotia must include the Triassic-Jurassic boundary [ref. McHone, 2001].
Inhabitants of the island live mainly around harbors along the eastern shoreline, which were created by the erosion of complex fault and fold structures in ancient metamorphosed sedimentary and volcanic rock formations. A major north-south fault is exposed at Red Point, and it divides these older eastern rocks from the much younger basalts that form the western 2/3 of the island. The metamorphic formations are organized into groups called Castalia, Ingalls Head, and Grand Manan, and there are also metamorphosed plutonic masses such as Stanley Brook Granite, Rockweed Pond Gabbro, and Kent Island Granite [ref. Fyffe and Grant, 2005]. These rocks have recently been dated between 539 and 618 million years old [ref. Black and others, 2007] and are now considered to correlate with the New River and Mascarene terranes of southern New Brunswick, Canada. Although originally they were igneous and sedimentary rocks such as basalt, sandstone, and shale, the eastern formations have been metamorphosed into greenstone, phyllite, argillite, schist, quartzite, and other foliated types. In addition, many folds and faults have bent and broken the formations in rather tortured-looking outcrops. One such fault can be seen at the north end of Pettes Cove, where it separates meta-basalt of Swallowtail Head from schist of North Head.
"Manan" is a corruption of "mun-an-ook" or "man-an-ook" — meaning "island place" or "the island" from the Maliseet-Passamaquoddy-Penobscot Indians who according to oral history used Grand Manan and it's surrounding islands as a safe place for the elderly Passamaquoddy during winter months and as a sacred burial place. ("ook"-means "people of"). The Norse are believed to be the first Europeans to visit Grand Manan where they stayed while exploring both the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine around 1000 A.D. By the late 15th Century, famed explorers Sebastian Cabot
and Gaspar Corte-Real
, while separately exploring the New World, likely saw what is now known as Grand Manan and the Bay of Fundy. During early 16th Century, Breton fisherman are said to have fished the teeming waters around the island and sheltered among its old-growth oak forests.
Portuguese explorer João Álvares Fagundes
charted the area around Grand Manan in about 1520, yet the island does not appear clearly on a map until 1558. Reports of a rich land led the Portuguese to decide the area was important enough to include it in a comprehensive map of the New World. Famed Cartographer Diogo Homem
produced this map, noting what would later be called Grand Manan and surrounding islands. The name "Fundy" is thought to date to this time when the Portuguese and Breton fisherman referred to the bay as "Rio Fundo" or "deep river."
It is likely this map ignited a fascination in the region in French merchant-explorer Stephen Bellinger (Étienne Bellenger). Wishing to cash in on the bounty of this newly discovered paradise, Bellinger set out aboard the Chardon in January 1583, reaching Cape Breton
about 7th of February. He sailed down one side of what is now Nova Scotia and entered “the great bay of that island,” namely the Bay of Fundy (Baie Française). As he noted that “the entrance is so narrow that a culverin shot can reach from one side to the other” it would appear that he passed (if the coast has not changed in the meantime) between Long Island and Digby Neck into the bay.
He gave names to many places as he continued to explore the bay and some of those which he gave to the northern shore survived his voyage. It would appear that he emerged from the Bay of Fundy between Grand Menane (Grand Manan) Island and what is now Maine.
The Chardon or her pinnace put Bellinger on land 10 to a dozen times. He made a close examination of the resources of the mainland, its timber, its possibilities for making salt, and its presumed mineral wealth, bringing home an ore believed to contain lead and silver. He also made frequent contacts with the Passamaquoddy-Penobscot Indians. He noted that "natives" who lived from 60 to 80 leagues westward from Cape Breton were cunning, cruel, and treacherous: he lost two of his men and his pinnace to them as he made his way back along the Nova Scotia shore. However, he found the Passamaquoddy
Indians further west and along the area around what is now Maine and Grand Manan, gentle and tractable. He had a quantity of small merchandise for trade, and acquired from the Indians in return for it dressed “buff” (probably elk), deer, and seal skins, together with marten, beaver, otter, and lynx pelts, samples of castor, porcupine quills, dyestuffs, and some dried deer-flesh.
In 1606, French Explorer Samuel de Champlain
, in a voyage on behalf of Henry IV
, sailed the Bay of Fundy and sheltered on White Head — an outer island of Grand Manan — during a March storm of that year. Seven years later, Champlain had produced a detailed map of what he saw, calling the "big" island "Manthane," which he later corrected to Menane or Menasne. "Grand" was formally added to its name later.
In 1693, the island of "Grand Manan" was granted to Paul D'Ailleboust, Sieur de Périgny as part of Champlain's "New France
". D'Ailleboust did not take possession of it and it reverted to the French Crown, in whose possession it remained until 1713, when it was traded to the British in the Treaty of Utrecht
.
By this time, the United States had formed. Because of the Treaty of Paris (1783)
, the U.S. considered Grand Manan to be its possession due to the island's proximity to Maine. For many years, the United States and Britain would squabble over the ownership of Grand Manan. Britain obtained better title to Grand Manan in Jay's Treaty of 1794, while surrendering its sovereignty claims over Eastport Moose, Frederick and Dudley islands in nearby Cobscook Bay
.
However, ownership by either country was not fully agreed-upon in the local trading communities of the era.
The actual boundary and ownership of local islands in Passamaquoddy Bay was not settled until 1817, when Britain gained full, unfettered control of Grand Manan and its surrounding islands from the United States.
By 1832, the island had become a destination for those seeking prosperity and privacy. Schools were established by the Anglican Church. While neighboring islands along the American coast to Boston relied on whaling, Grand Manan established a reputation for fishing and shipbuilding. The early 19th Century saw the harvesting of hackmatack, birch and oak and a burgeoning shipbuilding community. Population on the island grew to include many fine carpenters. Grand Manan became known for its accomplished maritime craftsmen.
This period was also marked by a number of ship wrecks off the island's rocky, cliff-lined coast. One of the most famous of these wrecks, that of the Lord Ashburton, took place during the winter of 1857. The barque was crossing the Atlantic from Toulouse, France. Just under 60 miles from its destination port of Saint John, the Lord Ashburton was driven into the cliffs at the northern end of the island by hurricane-force winds. The captain, three mates and the crew of 28 were swept overboard. Only eight of the men survived, and they were provided for by local villagers. The bodies of those who perished were recovered from the base of the cliff the following day and buried in the cemetery in the village of North Head, where a monument was later erected in their memory.
By 1851, the island population had numbered almost 1,200 permanent inhabitants, most working in what had become an exceedingly prosperous industry: fishing.
By 1884, Grand Manan became the largest supplier of smoked herring
in the world. By 1920, it produced a staggering one million boxes — or twenty thousand tons — of smoked herring, all caught in its local waters.
Despite world acclaim, islanders fiercely guarded their "Fundy Oasis," choosing instead to create and preserve a quiet, private life in an idyllic setting. However, as early as 1875, word spread among wealthy travelers and educated wanderers looking to escape the oppression and industrialization of the Eastern Seaboard; word of a sort of paradise; a fortress of civility and privacy untainted by the outside world. By the late Victorian era, Grand Manan had been discovered by a new breed of explorers — the "tourists" — who began visiting the island in steady numbers, weaving themselves into the fabric of its close-knit, isolated society. Pulitzer-prize winning author Willa Cather
loved the island's unspoiled solitude, while painters such as Alfred Thompson Bricher
and John James Audubon
came to Grand Manan and its outlying islands to capture what they believed to be its "unique majesty," documenting its varied geography and indigenous fauna.
In 1995, the island's settlements — North Head, Castalia, Woodwards Cove, Grand Harbour, Ingalls Head and Seal Cove — were amalgamated into a single municipal government, known as the Village of Grand Manan.
In 2006, Grand Manan residents caused some controversy when they burned out a supposed drug dealer.
A partial list of those associated with Grand Manan who are known for their contributions to Art, Science, Politics and Scholarship include:
is still dependent upon fishing
, aquaculture
and tourism
. Lobster, herring, scallops and crab are most commonly sought among fishermen. Together with ocean salmon farms, dulsing, rock weed and clam digging, many residents make their living "on the water".
Tourism is growing significantly, providing the island with a highly profitable "green" industry. Whale and bird watching, camping and kayaking are popular activities for tourists. Visitors and retirees often purchase real-estate and remain on the island through the summer months or reside permanently as every necessary amenity exists for people of all ages. Approximately 54% of the island is owned by non-residents. The community is noted for its friendly people, low crime rate, high church membership, quaint villages, and unspoiled sea-scapes.
There were 1,045 households out of which 23% had children under the age of 18 living with them. Of the 700 census families on the island, 71.42% were married couples living together. The average family size was 2.90.
On the island the population was spread out with 25% age 19 or under; 5% from 20 to 24, 27% from 25 to 44, 25.4% from 45 to 64, and 17.1% at 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.3 years.
The median income for a family was $48,190. Males had a median income of $32,183 versus $23,106 for females. A full 63% of the population 15 years and older had at least a high school certificate or equivalent, with 22% having at least some college, GEGEP or University training.
Grand Manan is only accessible by daily ferry service, private craft and airplane. Coastal Transport Limited
operates two ferries from the mainland on various schedules throughout the year. Service is available daily with the exception of Christmas and New Year's Day. Two ferries are used: The MS Grand Manan V was introduced in 1990, holds 65 cars and 300 passengers and is wheelchair accessible. The MV Grand Manan, in service since 1965, is added as a second boat through the summer months and holds a maximum of 32 cars and 165 passengers. Both ferries run between North Head on Grand Manan and Blacks Harbour on the mainland. Each way is one and one half hours in duration. There is no charge for the trip out to the island, but a ticket must be purchased in North Head to return to the mainland.
On 10 March 2009, New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham signed a 65 million dollar contract with Brian R. D'Isernia, President of Eastern Shipbuilding Group of Panama City, Florida, for delivery of a new, larger and faster ferry capable of transporting 82 cars to be placed into service in 2011. This new ferry will become the primary year-round transport for the island, and the MS Grand Manan V will take over the summer schedule of the older MV Grand Manan, which will be retired.
A smaller ferry, the Lady White Head, serves the 220 residents of White Head Island from Ingalls Head on Grand Manan, with a trip approximately one half hour in duration. This ferry is free of charge. The Lady White Head is also due for replacement.
Airplane service is available to most destinations in the Maritime region and some destinations in the New England States from the Grand Manan Airport
. Aerial tours of Grand Manan are available as well. Emergency air transport is provided for medical incidents of a more serious nature. Air service is operated by Manan Air Services and operates no set schedule and typically through request.
Route 776
is the main road on Grand Manan, running on a north-south alignment along the island's eastern coast.
Grand Manan, in comparison to other New Brunswick communities has a mild climate. Spring, Summer and Fall months present a very comfortable climate. Winter months offer an inconsistent weather pattern of snow, rain, freezing rain and mild weather. Since 2000, the average annual precipitation has been 859.8mm with August being the driest month (35mm) and October (112mm) providing the most precipitation.
A breakdown of monthly average temperatures between 2000-2008 is provided below:
Since 2001, the highest recorded temperature at Grand Manan Community School, located in Grand Harbour, was 32.9 °C (91.2 °F) on July 3, 2002. The lowest recorded temperature -20.9 C occurred on February 1, 2005. Though higher temperatures can be found in more sheltered areas of the island, these extremes are not typically experienced.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
island, and the largest in the Bay of Fundy
Bay of Fundy
The Bay of Fundy is a bay on the Atlantic coast of North America, on the northeast end of the Gulf of Maine between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine...
. It is also the primary island in the Grand Manan Archipelago, sitting at the boundary between the Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of Maine
Gulf of Maine
The Gulf of Maine is a large gulf of the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of North America.It is delineated by Cape Cod at the eastern tip of Massachusetts in the southwest and Cape Sable at the southern tip of Nova Scotia in the northeast. It includes the entire coastlines of the U.S...
on the Atlantic coast. Grand Manan is jurisdictionally part of Charlotte County
Charlotte County, New Brunswick
Charlotte County is located in the southwestern portion of New Brunswick, Canada.In most of the county, fishing and aquaculture dominate the local economy, although the town of St. Andrews is a tourist mecca and St...
in the province of New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
. As of 2006, the island had a population of 2,460.
Geography
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, and home to some of the strongest tides in the world. Located 32 kilometres south of Blacks Harbour
Blacks Harbour, New Brunswick
Blacks Harbour is a Canadian village in Charlotte County, New Brunswick.Referred to simply as Blacks by locals, the village is situated on a harbour of the same name opening onto the Bay of Fundy. It is situated 15 kilometres southeast of the town of St...
, the point on mainland closest to the island is in Washington County, Maine
Washington County, Maine
Washington County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. In 2010, its population was 32,856. Its county seat is Machias.Sometimes referred to as "Sunrise County" because it is the easternmost county in the United States, and it is often where the rising sun first shines on the 48...
, near the town of Lubec
Lubec, Maine
Lubec is a town in Washington County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,652 at the 2000 census. Lubec is the easternmost town in the contiguous United States . However, the Aleutian Islands in Alaska extend into the eastern hemisphere, and if territories are included, Point Udall in the...
- the easternmost point of the continental United States, where the distance to the island measures 15 km (9.3 mi) across the Grand Manan Channel. Grand Manan is 34 km (21.1 mi) long and has a maximum width of 18 km (11.2 mi) with an area of 137 km² (53 miles²).
The vast majority of Grand Manan residents live on the eastern side of the island. Due to limited access, three-hundred-foot cliffs and high winds, the western side of the island is not residentially developed, although it does feature wind-power ventures and camps at Dark Harbour, a small dulsing
Dulse
Palmaria palmata Kuntze, also called dulse, dillisk, dilsk, red dulse, sea lettuce flakes or creathnach, is a red alga previously referred to as Rhodymenia palmata Greville. It grows on the northern coasts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It is a well-known snack food...
community and get-away destination for islanders. Grand Manan has a network of trails for all-terrain vehicles, hiking, mountain biking, nature walks, and presents a challenging landscape for jogging. There are a number of fresh-water ponds, lakes and beaches that are prime locations for sun-bathing, beach combing, and picnics. Other interesting finds on Grand Manan are magnetic sand, and “The Hole-In-The Wall” located in Whale Cove in the village of North Head. Anchorage Provincial Park
Anchorage Provincial Park
Anchorage Provincial Park is located on the south-east coast of Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick, Canada. The island, the largest in the Bay of Fundy, is also the primary island in the Grand Manan Archipelago, sitting at the boundary between the Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of Maine.Located between...
can be found on the island's southeastern coast between the communities of Grand Harbour and Seal Cove.
White Head Island, Gull Rock, Machias Seal Island
Machias Seal Island
Machias Seal Island is an island located in the Gulf of Maine, approximately southeast from Cutler, Maine, and approximately southwest of Southwest Head, New Brunswick on Grand Manan Island. Machias Seal Island is located at and measures approximately in area. It is a neighbour to North Rock....
and North Rock
North Rock
North Rock is an offshore rock with geographical coordinates of , located to the east of the North American continent near the boundary between the Gulf of Maine and the Bay of Fundy....
are part of the larger Grand Manan archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
; the latter two are approximately 15 kilometres southwest of Grand Manan Island. Both Machias Seal Island
Machias Seal Island
Machias Seal Island is an island located in the Gulf of Maine, approximately southeast from Cutler, Maine, and approximately southwest of Southwest Head, New Brunswick on Grand Manan Island. Machias Seal Island is located at and measures approximately in area. It is a neighbour to North Rock....
and North Rock
North Rock
North Rock is an offshore rock with geographical coordinates of , located to the east of the North American continent near the boundary between the Gulf of Maine and the Bay of Fundy....
are claimed by both Canada and the United States.
For administrative purposes, they form the most southerly part of New Brunswick. Machias Seal Island also houses the province's last remaining staffed lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
. The light has been in continuous operation since 1832; the post of lighthousekeeper was withdrawn for cost-saving reasons in the 1990s, but soon reinstated to provide a human demonstration of national sovereignty
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
. Research is conducted on the island by the Atlantic Cooperative Wildlife Ecology Research Network at the University of New Brunswick
University of New Brunswick
The University of New Brunswick is a Canadian university located in the province of New Brunswick. UNB is the oldest English language university in Canada and among the first public universities in North America. The university has two main campuses: the original campus founded in 1785 in...
in Fredericton.
Geology
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
) of Early Jurassic age, which are little changed from when they cooled around 201 million years (m.y.) ago. They are part of a massive “flood basalt
Flood basalt
A flood basalt or trap basalt is the result of a giant volcanic eruption or series of eruptions that coats large stretches of land or the ocean floor with basalt lava. Flood basalts have occurred on continental scales in prehistory, creating great plateaus and mountain ranges...
” that underlies most of the Bay of Fundy
Bay of Fundy
The Bay of Fundy is a bay on the Atlantic coast of North America, on the northeast end of the Gulf of Maine between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine...
, although the Grand Manan Basalt was later separated into its own rift basin by block faulting [ref. McHone, 2001]. The Fundy basalts are themselves only a small portion of the enormous Central Atlantic Magmatic Province
Central Atlantic Magmatic Province
The Central Atlantic magmatic province is a large connected magma flow formed during the breakup of Pangaea during the Mesozoic Era. The initial breakup of Pangaea in early Jurassic time provided a legacy of basaltic dikes, sills, and lavas over a vast area around the present central North...
or CAMP, which was formed in a volcanic event preceding the breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea
Pangaea
Pangaea, Pangæa, or Pangea is hypothesized as a supercontinent that existed during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras about 250 million years ago, before the component continents were separated into their current configuration....
in Early Jurassic time. These lava flows also crop out along the western shores of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, where they are known as the North Mountain Basalt. Both there and on our island, many interesting minerals have filled the cracks and bubbles left by gases boiling out of the cooling lavas. They include zeolite
Zeolite
Zeolites are microporous, aluminosilicate minerals commonly used as commercial adsorbents. The term zeolite was originally coined in 1756 by Swedish mineralogist Axel Fredrik Cronstedt, who observed that upon rapidly heating the material stilbite, it produced large amounts of steam from water that...
minerals such as chabazite, mesolite, stilbite, and heulandite, plus attractive quartz-related amethyst, agate, jasper, and many others. Good collecting areas include Seven Days Work, Indian Beach, and Bradford Cove. A few meters of siltstone are exposed under the basalt along the western shoreline, which by analogy with the Blomidon Formation in Nova Scotia must include the Triassic-Jurassic boundary [ref. McHone, 2001].
Inhabitants of the island live mainly around harbors along the eastern shoreline, which were created by the erosion of complex fault and fold structures in ancient metamorphosed sedimentary and volcanic rock formations. A major north-south fault is exposed at Red Point, and it divides these older eastern rocks from the much younger basalts that form the western 2/3 of the island. The metamorphic formations are organized into groups called Castalia, Ingalls Head, and Grand Manan, and there are also metamorphosed plutonic masses such as Stanley Brook Granite, Rockweed Pond Gabbro, and Kent Island Granite [ref. Fyffe and Grant, 2005]. These rocks have recently been dated between 539 and 618 million years old [ref. Black and others, 2007] and are now considered to correlate with the New River and Mascarene terranes of southern New Brunswick, Canada. Although originally they were igneous and sedimentary rocks such as basalt, sandstone, and shale, the eastern formations have been metamorphosed into greenstone, phyllite, argillite, schist, quartzite, and other foliated types. In addition, many folds and faults have bent and broken the formations in rather tortured-looking outcrops. One such fault can be seen at the north end of Pettes Cove, where it separates meta-basalt of Swallowtail Head from schist of North Head.
Exploration
Sebastian Cabot (explorer)
Sebastian Cabot was an explorer, born in the Venetian Republic.-Origins:...
and Gaspar Corte-Real
Gaspar Corte-Real
Gaspar Corte-Real was a Portuguese explorer.He was the youngest of three sons of João Vaz Corte-Real, also a Portuguese explorer, and had accompanied his father on his expeditions to North America...
, while separately exploring the New World, likely saw what is now known as Grand Manan and the Bay of Fundy. During early 16th Century, Breton fisherman are said to have fished the teeming waters around the island and sheltered among its old-growth oak forests.
Portuguese explorer João Álvares Fagundes
João Álvares Fagundes
João Álvares Fagundes , an explorer and ship owner from Viana do Castelo in Northern Portugal, organized several expeditions to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia around 1520-1521....
charted the area around Grand Manan in about 1520, yet the island does not appear clearly on a map until 1558. Reports of a rich land led the Portuguese to decide the area was important enough to include it in a comprehensive map of the New World. Famed Cartographer Diogo Homem
Diogo Homem
Diogo Homem was a Portuguese cartographer, son of Lopo Homem and member of a family of cartographers. Due to a crime of murder, in which he was connivent, he was forced to exile from Portugal, first in England, and then in Venice. It was there that he produced numerous manuscript atlases and...
produced this map, noting what would later be called Grand Manan and surrounding islands. The name "Fundy" is thought to date to this time when the Portuguese and Breton fisherman referred to the bay as "Rio Fundo" or "deep river."
It is likely this map ignited a fascination in the region in French merchant-explorer Stephen Bellinger (Étienne Bellenger). Wishing to cash in on the bounty of this newly discovered paradise, Bellinger set out aboard the Chardon in January 1583, reaching Cape Breton
Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....
about 7th of February. He sailed down one side of what is now Nova Scotia and entered “the great bay of that island,” namely the Bay of Fundy (Baie Française). As he noted that “the entrance is so narrow that a culverin shot can reach from one side to the other” it would appear that he passed (if the coast has not changed in the meantime) between Long Island and Digby Neck into the bay.
He gave names to many places as he continued to explore the bay and some of those which he gave to the northern shore survived his voyage. It would appear that he emerged from the Bay of Fundy between Grand Menane (Grand Manan) Island and what is now Maine.
The Chardon or her pinnace put Bellinger on land 10 to a dozen times. He made a close examination of the resources of the mainland, its timber, its possibilities for making salt, and its presumed mineral wealth, bringing home an ore believed to contain lead and silver. He also made frequent contacts with the Passamaquoddy-Penobscot Indians. He noted that "natives" who lived from 60 to 80 leagues westward from Cape Breton were cunning, cruel, and treacherous: he lost two of his men and his pinnace to them as he made his way back along the Nova Scotia shore. However, he found the Passamaquoddy
Passamaquoddy
The Passamaquoddy are the First Nations people who live in northeastern North America, primarily in Maine and New Brunswick....
Indians further west and along the area around what is now Maine and Grand Manan, gentle and tractable. He had a quantity of small merchandise for trade, and acquired from the Indians in return for it dressed “buff” (probably elk), deer, and seal skins, together with marten, beaver, otter, and lynx pelts, samples of castor, porcupine quills, dyestuffs, and some dried deer-flesh.
In 1606, French Explorer Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain , "The Father of New France", was a French navigator, cartographer, draughtsman, soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He founded New France and Quebec City on July 3, 1608....
, in a voyage on behalf of Henry IV
Henry IV of France
Henry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....
, sailed the Bay of Fundy and sheltered on White Head — an outer island of Grand Manan — during a March storm of that year. Seven years later, Champlain had produced a detailed map of what he saw, calling the "big" island "Manthane," which he later corrected to Menane or Menasne. "Grand" was formally added to its name later.
In 1693, the island of "Grand Manan" was granted to Paul D'Ailleboust, Sieur de Périgny as part of Champlain's "New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
". D'Ailleboust did not take possession of it and it reverted to the French Crown, in whose possession it remained until 1713, when it was traded to the British in the Treaty of Utrecht
Treaty of Utrecht
The Treaty of Utrecht, which established the Peace of Utrecht, comprises a series of individual peace treaties, rather than a single document, signed by the belligerents in the War of Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht in March and April 1713...
.
Colonial era
Despite earlier exploration and trade activity, the first permanent settlement of Grand Manan was not established until 1784, when Moses Gerrish gathered a group of settlers on an area of Grand Manan he called Ross Island, in honor of settler Thomas Ross.By this time, the United States had formed. Because of the Treaty of Paris (1783)
Treaty of Paris (1783)
The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain on the one hand and the United States of America and its allies on the other. The other combatant nations, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic had separate agreements; for details of...
, the U.S. considered Grand Manan to be its possession due to the island's proximity to Maine. For many years, the United States and Britain would squabble over the ownership of Grand Manan. Britain obtained better title to Grand Manan in Jay's Treaty of 1794, while surrendering its sovereignty claims over Eastport Moose, Frederick and Dudley islands in nearby Cobscook Bay
Cobscook Bay
Cobscook Bay is located in Washington County in the state of Maine. It opens into the Bay of Fundy immediately south of the city of Eastport and adjacent to Passamaquoddy Bay...
.
However, ownership by either country was not fully agreed-upon in the local trading communities of the era.
Nineteenth century to the present
During the period of 1812-1814, the Bay of Fundy was infested with privateers. Because of the ongoing dispute between British Loyalists and the United States regarding Grand Manan's resources and strategic position, it was almost the cause of another full-scale war between the two countries. Settlers of the island saw much hardship during these years, as privateers from both sides frequently raided villages along Grand Manan's east coast and plundered their belongings.The actual boundary and ownership of local islands in Passamaquoddy Bay was not settled until 1817, when Britain gained full, unfettered control of Grand Manan and its surrounding islands from the United States.
By 1832, the island had become a destination for those seeking prosperity and privacy. Schools were established by the Anglican Church. While neighboring islands along the American coast to Boston relied on whaling, Grand Manan established a reputation for fishing and shipbuilding. The early 19th Century saw the harvesting of hackmatack, birch and oak and a burgeoning shipbuilding community. Population on the island grew to include many fine carpenters. Grand Manan became known for its accomplished maritime craftsmen.
This period was also marked by a number of ship wrecks off the island's rocky, cliff-lined coast. One of the most famous of these wrecks, that of the Lord Ashburton, took place during the winter of 1857. The barque was crossing the Atlantic from Toulouse, France. Just under 60 miles from its destination port of Saint John, the Lord Ashburton was driven into the cliffs at the northern end of the island by hurricane-force winds. The captain, three mates and the crew of 28 were swept overboard. Only eight of the men survived, and they were provided for by local villagers. The bodies of those who perished were recovered from the base of the cliff the following day and buried in the cemetery in the village of North Head, where a monument was later erected in their memory.
By 1851, the island population had numbered almost 1,200 permanent inhabitants, most working in what had become an exceedingly prosperous industry: fishing.
By 1884, Grand Manan became the largest supplier of smoked herring
Herring
Herring is an oily fish of the genus Clupea, found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea. Three species of Clupea are recognized. The main taxa, the Atlantic herring and the Pacific herring may each be divided into subspecies...
in the world. By 1920, it produced a staggering one million boxes — or twenty thousand tons — of smoked herring, all caught in its local waters.
Despite world acclaim, islanders fiercely guarded their "Fundy Oasis," choosing instead to create and preserve a quiet, private life in an idyllic setting. However, as early as 1875, word spread among wealthy travelers and educated wanderers looking to escape the oppression and industrialization of the Eastern Seaboard; word of a sort of paradise; a fortress of civility and privacy untainted by the outside world. By the late Victorian era, Grand Manan had been discovered by a new breed of explorers — the "tourists" — who began visiting the island in steady numbers, weaving themselves into the fabric of its close-knit, isolated society. Pulitzer-prize winning author Willa Cather
Willa Cather
Willa Seibert Cather was an American author who achieved recognition for her novels of frontier life on the Great Plains, in works such as O Pioneers!, My Ántonia, and The Song of the Lark. In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours , a novel set during World War I...
loved the island's unspoiled solitude, while painters such as Alfred Thompson Bricher
Alfred Thompson Bricher
Alfred Thompson Bricher was a painter associated with White Mountain art and the Hudson River School.-Life and work:...
and John James Audubon
John James Audubon
John James Audubon was a French-American ornithologist, naturalist, and painter. He was notable for his expansive studies to document all types of American birds and for his detailed illustrations that depicted the birds in their natural habitats...
came to Grand Manan and its outlying islands to capture what they believed to be its "unique majesty," documenting its varied geography and indigenous fauna.
In 1995, the island's settlements — North Head, Castalia, Woodwards Cove, Grand Harbour, Ingalls Head and Seal Cove — were amalgamated into a single municipal government, known as the Village of Grand Manan.
In 2006, Grand Manan residents caused some controversy when they burned out a supposed drug dealer.
Notable residents and visitors
Grand Manan has an impressive list of residents and visitors. In keeping with the intense privacy pursued by some of those who visit and live there, many of its most notable residents and summer visitors wish to remain in relaxed anonymity.A partial list of those associated with Grand Manan who are known for their contributions to Art, Science, Politics and Scholarship include:
- Samuel de ChamplainSamuel de ChamplainSamuel de Champlain , "The Father of New France", was a French navigator, cartographer, draughtsman, soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He founded New France and Quebec City on July 3, 1608....
(c. 1575 – 25 of December 1635) Explorer and Cartographer, sailed the Bay of Fundy and sheltered on White Head—an outer island of Grand Manan—during a March storm. - William "Captain" Kidd (1645–1701) Scottish sailor; profiteer, pirate. An early Manhattan Island resident, a treasure once buried on Gardiners IslandGardiners IslandGardiners Island is a small island in the town of East Hampton, New York, in eastern Suffolk County; it is located in Gardiners Bay between the two peninsulas at the eastern end of Long Island. It is long, wide and has of coastline...
, NY. Legend holds his burying money on the West side of Grand Manan island. For nearly 200 years, the spot he reportedly visited has been called "Money Cove". - Dr. John Faxon - Brown Graduate, War of 1812 Veteran; first Physician on the island.
- Samuel F.B. Morse (April 27, 1791 - April 2, 1872) Painter, Inventor, Yale Graduate. "Morse" relatives of whom helped settle the island and still reside there.
- John James AudubonJohn James AudubonJohn James Audubon was a French-American ornithologist, naturalist, and painter. He was notable for his expansive studies to document all types of American birds and for his detailed illustrations that depicted the birds in their natural habitats...
(April 26, 1785 - January 27, 1851) Grand Manan's first official bird watcher, Audubon immortalized the ornithology of the island in 1831. With 240 species of birds, including Bald Eagles, Buffleheads, Puffins and Osprey, Grand Manan provided Audubon with endless inspiration for his naturalist paintings - many of which he sketched while residing on the island. - Alfred Thompson BricherAlfred Thompson BricherAlfred Thompson Bricher was a painter associated with White Mountain art and the Hudson River School.-Life and work:...
(1837–1908) Maritime painter associated with White Mountain art and the Hudson River School. Many of his masterpieces were created on Grand Manan, including "Lifting Fog, Grand Manan". - Harrison Bird Brown (1831–1915) (Painter) White Mountain painter who frequented the island.
- W. J. Aylward (painter, illustrator), member of the Brandywine School, illustrator for "Harper's Weekly".
- Mauritz de HaasMauritz de HaasMaurits Frederik Hendrik de Haas was a Dutch-American marine painter. His name has been written as Mauritz Frederik de Haas, Maurice F. H...
(1832, 1895) Dutch-American marine painter; Realist. Exhibited Paris Exposition, one of the founders of the American Society of Painters in Water Colors. His "Fishermen off Grand Manan" is considered one of his best works. - William F. de Hass (1830–1880) Dutch-American Marine painter, brother of Mauritz de Haas; also favored the island's inspiration.
- Edward MoranEdward MoranEdward Moran was an American artist.He emigrated with his family to America at the age of 15, and subsequently settled in Philadelphia, where after having followed his fathers trade of weaver, he became a pupil of James Hamilton and Paul Weber...
(1829–1901), Royal Academy of London, "Devil’s Crag; Island of Grand Manan". - Robert Swain GiffordRobert Swain GiffordRobert Swain Gifford was an American landscape painter. He was influenced by the Barbizon school.Much of his work focuses on the landscapes of New England, where he was born. He, along with Victorian contemporaries from the White Mountain and Hudson River Schools, helped immortalize the majestic...
(1840–1905) American landscape painter influenced by the Barbizon School. His work from the North Head, "Pettes Cove" is a masterful example of marine painting. - Winslow HomerWinslow HomerWinslow Homer was an American landscape painter and printmaker, best known for his marine subjects. He is considered one of the foremost painters in 19th century America and a preeminent figure in American art....
(1836–1910) American Master, self-taught, illustrator and painter. Created "Morning at Grand Manan". - John George BrownJohn George BrownJohn George Brown , British and American painter, was born in Durham, England, on 11 November 1831. He studied at Newcastle-on-Tyne, in the Edinburgh Academy. His parents apprenticed him to a glass worker at the age of fourteen, in an attempt to dissuade him from pursuing painting...
(1831–1913) American painter, born in Durham, England. Edinburg Academy. "Reading on the Rocks, Grand Manan" about 1877. - Frederic Edwin ChurchFrederic Edwin ChurchFrederic Edwin Church was an American landscape painter born in Hartford, Connecticut. He was a central figure in the Hudson River School of American landscape painters...
(1826–1900) American Landscape painter. His use of color is unparalleled; his work "Heart of the Andes" sold for $10,000 in 1859. His contribution to the island's artistic stature, "Grand Manan", is one of his important works. - Lucius R. O'Brien (1832–1899) His Grand Manan interpretation is called "The Grand Cross".
- Milton J. Burns 1853 "Swallowtail Lighthouse" is on display at the U.S. Coast Guard Museum.
- Wesley Griffin, Painter; Several of his works hang in public places on the island, including "Young Captain" in the library.
- John Sterling RockefellerJohn Sterling RockefellerJohn Sterling Rockefeller is the fourth son of William Goodsell Rockefeller and Sarah Elizabeth Stillman . Rockefeller is a grandson of Standard Oil co-founder, William Rockefeller .Rockefeller attended Yale University and was a member of Scroll and Key...
, grandson of Standard Oil Co-founder William Rockefeller. Moved by the enthusiasm of Grand Manan native and gifted taxidermist Allan Moses, Rockefeller purchased Kent Island, off-island of Grand Manan, to preserve Bay of FundyBay of FundyThe Bay of Fundy is a bay on the Atlantic coast of North America, on the northeast end of the Gulf of Maine between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine...
Eider ducks and other native fowl. Mr. Rockefeller's generous gift flourishes today; the island was given to Bowdoin CollegeBowdoin CollegeBowdoin College , founded in 1794, is an elite private liberal arts college located in the coastal Maine town of Brunswick, Maine. As of 2011, U.S. News and World Report ranks Bowdoin 6th among liberal arts colleges in the United States. At times, it was ranked as high as 4th in the country. It is...
for continuing research. - Allan Moses, renowned taxidermist from Grand Manan, world traveler, naturalist, philanthropist. Was instrumental in the purchase of Kent Island by John Sterling RockefellerJohn Sterling RockefellerJohn Sterling Rockefeller is the fourth son of William Goodsell Rockefeller and Sarah Elizabeth Stillman . Rockefeller is a grandson of Standard Oil co-founder, William Rockefeller .Rockefeller attended Yale University and was a member of Scroll and Key...
for preservation. - Ernest Wilmot Guptill, Ph.D. (1919–1976) born on Grand Manan, received his Doctorate from McGillMcGill UniversityMohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
in Microwave radiation. Distinguished Faculty, Dalhousie UniversityDalhousie UniversityDalhousie University is a public research university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The university comprises eleven faculties including Schulich School of Law and Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine. It also includes the faculties of architecture, planning and engineering located at...
. Instrumental in the development of Radar and Sono-Buoys. - Edward AbbottEdward AbbottEdward Abbott was an American clergyman, journalist, and author, son of Jacob Abbott, born at Farmington, Maine. He graduated in 1860 at the University of New York, studied from 1860 to 1862 at the Andover Theological Seminary, and in 1863 served in the United States Sanitary Commission at...
Victorian Author, contributor, Harper's Magazine. - Willa CatherWilla CatherWilla Seibert Cather was an American author who achieved recognition for her novels of frontier life on the Great Plains, in works such as O Pioneers!, My Ántonia, and The Song of the Lark. In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours , a novel set during World War I...
(1873–1947) Pulizer-prize winning author, member of the intellectual Salon "Cottage Girls" of Grand Manan. - Alice Coney; Intellectual, member of the "Cottage Girls" salon of Grand Manan.
- Edith Lewis; Artist; advertising copywriter; Intellectual, companion of Willa Cather and member of the "Cottage Girls" of Grand Manan.
- Erica Deichmann Gregg, (1913–2007) Potter, artist, educator and philanthropist.
- Eric AllabyEric AllabyKenneth Eric Allaby is a former New Brunswick politician.Allaby, educated in physics at Acadia University, has worked as an author, painter, curator and teacher. An historian, he was curator of the Grand Manan Museum and the author several books and articles on marine history...
born on Grand Manan; author, painter, scholar, curator, educator, historian, archeologist and commercial diver. Also served as member of the New Brunswick legislature. His prolific research and documentation of Grand Manan and its shipwrecks helped shape the process of modern marine archeology. - Susan Ingersoll, born on Grand Manan. Author, poet, educator, former poetry editor of the St. John's literary journal "TickleAce".
- Tim Peters Photographer, Author, "Rhythm of the Tides: The Fisheries of Grand Manan"
- Alison Hawthorne DemingAlison Hawthorne DemingAlison Hawthorne Deming is an American poet, and essayist.-Life:Deming is a descendant of Nathaniel Hawthorne. She worked in health care for fifteen years.She graduated in 1983 with a M.F.A...
Author, poet, essayist, teacher. - Katharine SchermanKatharine SchermanKatharine Scherman Rosin was an American author of non-fiction. Born in New York, she was the daughter of Harry and Bernardine Scherman. She married Axel G. Rosin on April 10, 1943. She had two children, Karen and Susanna. She received a B.A from Swarthmore College in 1938...
American author of non-fiction, "Two Islands: Grand Manan and Sanibel" - Gene BrewerGene BrewerGene Brewer is the author of the K-PAX series of novels: K-PAX, K-PAX II, K-PAX III, K-PAX IV and Prot's Report, a brief natural history of the Earth, which appears in the K-PAX trilogy, an omnibus edition of the first three K-PAX books...
Author, "K-Pax". - Marc ShellMarc ShellMarc Shell, born 1947 in Montreal, is a Canadian literary critic, currently Irving Babbitt Professor of Comparative Literature and Professor of English at Harvard University.-"New Economic Criticism":...
, Ph.D. Noted Canadian Literary Critic, Irving Babbit Comparative and Professor of English at Harvard UniversityHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
; John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur fellow. - Susan Meld Shell, Ph.D. Professor, Boston College. Graduate Harvard UniversityHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. Author, Philosopher, Teacher. Fellowship recipient, National Endowment for the Humanities. - Lori P. Morse, born on Grand Manan; Artist, Photographer, Musician; Artistic and Graphics Curator; family of the Samuel F.B.Morse/Morse Code fame.
- M.J. Edwards, born in Kingston, ON; Photographer; Encaustic Painter; Ink Drawings; Educator; Grand Manan Museum Curator/Director.
- Wayne CliffordWayne CliffordWayne Clifford is a Canadian poet.Clifford began writing poetry at fourteen. His first collection, Man in a Window , was the first volume published by Canadian literary publisher, Coach House Press. As a student at the University of Toronto , he shared the E.J.Pratt Prize with Michael Ondaatje...
, born in Oshawa, ON; Poet and Writer; Author of first published book by Coach House Press. Poetry books include "An Ache in the Ear" illustrated by David Bolduc; "Glass/Passages"; On Abducting the Cello"; "The Book of Were; "Jane Again"; "Learning to Dance with a Peg Leg"; "The Exile's Papers" Parts I, II, III (IV forthcoming).
Economy
Grand Manan's economyEconomic system
An economic system is the combination of the various agencies, entities that provide the economic structure that defines the social community. These agencies are joined by lines of trade and exchange along which goods, money etc. are continuously flowing. An example of such a system for a closed...
is still dependent upon fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
, aquaculture
Aquaculture
Aquaculture, also known as aquafarming, is the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants. Aquaculture involves cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations under controlled conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the...
and tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
. Lobster, herring, scallops and crab are most commonly sought among fishermen. Together with ocean salmon farms, dulsing, rock weed and clam digging, many residents make their living "on the water".
Tourism is growing significantly, providing the island with a highly profitable "green" industry. Whale and bird watching, camping and kayaking are popular activities for tourists. Visitors and retirees often purchase real-estate and remain on the island through the summer months or reside permanently as every necessary amenity exists for people of all ages. Approximately 54% of the island is owned by non-residents. The community is noted for its friendly people, low crime rate, high church membership, quaint villages, and unspoiled sea-scapes.
Demographics
As of the census of 2006, there were 2,460 people, 1,045 households, and 700 families residing on Grand Manan. The population density was 42.26 people per square mile (16.31/km²). There were 1,298 housing units at an average density of 22.29/sq mi (8.60/km²). The racial makeup of the island was 99.17% White; and less than 1% Latin American and Aboriginal populations. Those who were third generation or more made up 89% of the population.There were 1,045 households out of which 23% had children under the age of 18 living with them. Of the 700 census families on the island, 71.42% were married couples living together. The average family size was 2.90.
On the island the population was spread out with 25% age 19 or under; 5% from 20 to 24, 27% from 25 to 44, 25.4% from 45 to 64, and 17.1% at 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.3 years.
The median income for a family was $48,190. Males had a median income of $32,183 versus $23,106 for females. A full 63% of the population 15 years and older had at least a high school certificate or equivalent, with 22% having at least some college, GEGEP or University training.
Access and transportation
Coastal Transport Limited
Coastal Transport Limited is a ferry company operating in eastern Canada on the Bay of Fundy with headquarters in Saint John, New Brunswick....
operates two ferries from the mainland on various schedules throughout the year. Service is available daily with the exception of Christmas and New Year's Day. Two ferries are used: The MS Grand Manan V was introduced in 1990, holds 65 cars and 300 passengers and is wheelchair accessible. The MV Grand Manan, in service since 1965, is added as a second boat through the summer months and holds a maximum of 32 cars and 165 passengers. Both ferries run between North Head on Grand Manan and Blacks Harbour on the mainland. Each way is one and one half hours in duration. There is no charge for the trip out to the island, but a ticket must be purchased in North Head to return to the mainland.
On 10 March 2009, New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham signed a 65 million dollar contract with Brian R. D'Isernia, President of Eastern Shipbuilding Group of Panama City, Florida, for delivery of a new, larger and faster ferry capable of transporting 82 cars to be placed into service in 2011. This new ferry will become the primary year-round transport for the island, and the MS Grand Manan V will take over the summer schedule of the older MV Grand Manan, which will be retired.
A smaller ferry, the Lady White Head, serves the 220 residents of White Head Island from Ingalls Head on Grand Manan, with a trip approximately one half hour in duration. This ferry is free of charge. The Lady White Head is also due for replacement.
Airplane service is available to most destinations in the Maritime region and some destinations in the New England States from the Grand Manan Airport
Grand Manan Airport
Grand Manan Airport , is located on Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick, Canada.The airport is classified as an airport of entry by NAV CANADA and is staffed by the Canada Border Services Agency...
. Aerial tours of Grand Manan are available as well. Emergency air transport is provided for medical incidents of a more serious nature. Air service is operated by Manan Air Services and operates no set schedule and typically through request.
Route 776
New Brunswick Route 776
Route 776 is a provincial highway in New Brunswick, Canada. It serves as the main road on Charlotte County's Grand Manan Island, following the entire eastern coast of the island....
is the main road on Grand Manan, running on a north-south alignment along the island's eastern coast.
Climate
A breakdown of monthly average temperatures between 2000-2008 is provided below:
Since 2001, the highest recorded temperature at Grand Manan Community School, located in Grand Harbour, was 32.9 °C (91.2 °F) on July 3, 2002. The lowest recorded temperature -20.9 C occurred on February 1, 2005. Though higher temperatures can be found in more sheltered areas of the island, these extremes are not typically experienced.
Further reading
- Eric Allaby, Grand Manan: Grand Harbour, Grand Manan Museum, Inc., 64 p., 1984.
- Joshua M. Smith, Borderland Smuggling: Patriots, Loyalists and Illicit Trade in the Northeast, 1783-1820 Gainesville, University Press of Florida, 2006.
- Elaine Ingalls Hogg, "Historic Grand Manan -- Images of Our Past" Nimbus Publishing, 2007.
- Tim Peters, "Rhythm of the Tides", Tim Peter's Publishing - August 2000
- J. Gregory McHone, Mesozoic Geology of Grand Manan in Lentz, D., and Pickerill, R., eds., Guidebook to Field Trips in New Brunswick and Western Maine: New England Intercollegiate Geological Conference, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Trip B-6, 2001.
- B. V. Miller, S. M. Barr, and R. S. Black, Neoproterozoic and Cambrian U-Pb (zircon) ages from Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick: implications for stratigraphy and northern Appalachian terrane correlations in Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, Volume 44, pp. 911–923, 2007.
- L. R. Fyffe and R. H. Grant, Bedrock geology of Grand Manan Island: Fredericton, New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources and Minerals Division, Plate 2005-24 (black and white map), 2005.