Spruce Island (Bay of Fundy)
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Bay of Fundy |
| Administration | |
Canada | |
| Province | New Brunswick |
| County | Charlotte |
| Parish | West Isles Parish |
Spruce Island is an undeveloped island in the West Isles Parish of Charlotte County, New Brunswick, Canada, where the Bay of Fundy enters Passamaquoddy Bay.[1][2][3][4] Its name goes back to at least 1772, when it was titled Spruce Island on the survey of Thomas Wright.[5]
It is one of the islands where a narrow belt of Devonian sandstone is found.[6] Its eastern side is steep, and there are islets and shoals off its western side.[7] It has been the subject of subtidal graduate studies.[8] In 1978, Mackay noted a high species abundance and diversity here, and five other nearby islands.[9]
As of 1839, the island was one of four belonging to the Campobello Mill and Manufacturing Company.[10]
In 1896, a fisherman's camp being used during lobster season on Spruce Island burned down; at the time the island belonged to Howard Johnston and Laurence Black.[11]
On May 31st, 1911, the American schooner Fly Away and its cargo of salt was wrecked on Spruce Island, while travelling from Boston to Eastport, Maine.[12] The schooner MK Rawley was wrecked on Spruce Island in 1914, with its six crew members rescued.[13]
Following the 1925 wreck of the alcohol-smuggling Cora Gertie on the Bliss Islands where it struck Man O War Island, Prohibition inspectors found ten gallons of alcohol in a bog on Spruce Island where the crew had reached shore.[14]
A 1985 study confirmed the presence of an unnamed shipwreck off the northeast corner of the island.[15]
The Pup is an islet to the northern side of Spruce Island.
References
- ^ Alcock, F.J. (September 1949). "The isles of Fundy". Canadian Geographic. 39 (3): 92–107. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
- ^ "No. 166". Provincial Archives of New Brunswick. Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ "489" (PDF). Transportation and Infrastructure. Government of New Brunswick. Retrieved 4 July 2021. Remainder of parish on mapbooks 490, 497, 500, and 501 at same site.
- ^ "Search the Canadian Geographical Names Database (CGNDB)". Government of Canada. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ Ganong, W.F., "A monograph of the place-nomenclature of the province of New Brunswick"
- ^ Hind, Henry. A preliminary report on the geology of New Brunswick, 1865:
- ^ Sailing Directions for Nova Scotia, 1952, US Navy Hydrographic Office
- ^ "Identification of Significant Marine and Coastal Areas in the Bay of Fundy" (PDF). publications.gc.ca.
- ^ "Identification of Significant Marine and Coastal Areas in the Bay of Fundy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-04-19.
- ^ "The Campobello Mill and Manufacturing Company, in New Brunswick, British North America". 1839.
- ^ "Saint John". St. John Daily. 1896-12-04.
- ^ "SV Fly Away (+1911)". www.wrecksite.eu.
- ^ Biddeford Weekly Journal 20 Nov 1914
- ^ Allaby, Eric. "The Sea Always Win: Shipwrecks of the Bay of Fundy", 2022
- ^ Parks Canada, "West Isles Feasibility Study....a National Marine Park in the West Isles", December 1985. Figure 12.
