Wood Island (also called Inner Wood Island[1]) is an island located in the Grand Manan archipelago, in the Bay of Fundy of New Brunswick, Canada.[2] It is distinct from its eastern neighbour Little Wood, or Outer Wood Island.[1] Once home to hundreds of fishing families, it has been abandoned since the 1950s.[2][3]
At its heyday in the 1950s, it housed a one-room schoolhouse, and a post office since at least 1926.[4] The schoolhouse still stands, converted with solar panels and propane to a private summer cottage.[5][2] The Reformed Baptist church was the only building with electricity, boasting its own generator.[2][5]
Geology
While most of the islands east of Grand Manan are stratified rock, Wood Island is conglomerate and fine-grained dark red sandstone.[6]
History
The social news of Wood Island in 1916.
In March 1606, François Gravé Du Pont ordered a barque to travel from the Bay of Fundy to Florida however after just one day it anchored in Seal Cove between Wood Island and Grand Manan, but the winds were so furious as to damage the 17-18 tonne ship throwing it on the shore of Wood Island where the crew repaired and reloaded it for four days before returning to the settlement of Samuel de Champlain near the St. Croix River for a couple weeks before Du Pont gave up on the expedition due to the fog and wind.[7]
It was first settled by a man named Gerrald who also settled the outer island, and in time Wood Island became the property of William Ross who deputed Willian Green (b.~1790) to oversee it.[1] Green made a deliberate effort to introduce hares to the islands, and was baptised at the age of 80 by Rev. Joshua N. Barnes.[8][1] After Green's death, his sons inherited the island.[1]
In March 1871, the schoonerAnna was wrecked on the island, with two crew killed.[9]
In 1907, the population was approximately 150.[10]
Other incidents include the Quebec ship Laurentian (113641) running aground due to fog and wind on April 7 1926, and May 18 1926 the CGS Laurentian blowing its boilers while inspecting lighthouses and buoys and running aground on Wood Island.[4]
Outer Little Wood Island
Outer Wood Island was not settled to a large degree, but saw naturalists such as Ernest Joy conduct species studies of its flora and fauna. In 1911, the Department of Marine and Fisheries purchased a small plot on the southern tip to serve as a launching point for life-saving boats.[12] A coxswain and five men operated a Sorel-Tracy twin -screw motorboat built at Sorel, and a Beebe-McLellan self-bailing boat. Telephone cable was laid from Grand Manan to Wood Island, to Outer Wood Island, to Gannet Rock Lighthouse.[13]
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