Beinn Bhreagh, Nova Scotia

( ) is the name of the former estate of Alexander Graham Bell, in Victoria County, Nova Scotia. It refers to a peninsula jutting into Cape Breton Island's scenic Bras d'Or Lake approximately southeast of the village of Baddeck, forming the southeastern shore of Baddeck Bay.

The peninsula was known to the Mi'kmaq as , roughly translated to "Red Head" due to the reddish sandstone rocks at the tip of the peninsula. The name —meaning "Beautiful Mountain" in Scottish Gaelic—is thought to have been given to the peninsula by Bell, who purchased approximately to form the estate in the late 1880s.

In July 2005, the Nova Scotia Civic Address Project review changed the status of from a "generic locality" to a "community".

Alexander Graham Bell

Wealthy from his successful invention and marketing of the telephone, inventor Alexander Graham Bell and his wife, Mabel, undertook a cruising vacation in 1885 along the coast of eastern North America with their intended destination being Newfoundland to view a mining operation that Mabel's father, Gardiner Greene Hubbard, had invested in. Along the way, the accidental grounding of their passenger boat made them serendipitously discover Cape Breton's Bras d'Or Lake, and they were enthralled by their surroundings.

Its landscape, climate, and Scottish traditions and culture were reminiscent of his birthplace in Edinburgh, Scotland. The Bells lived increasingly on from about 1888 until his death in 1922, initially only in the summer and then later often year-round.

Bell constructed a laboratory and boatyard on this property, conducting experiments in powered flight and hydrofoil technology, among many other things. Some of his most notable accomplishments at included the first manned flight of an airplane in the British Commonwealth (by the AEA Silver Dart) in 1909, plus the HD-4, a hydrofoil boat designed by Frederick Walker Baldwin and Bell, and built at . Designed as a submarine chaser and powered by aircraft engines, their vessel set a world watercraft speed record of in 1919, which remained unbroken for many years.

The Bells were both buried atop mountain, on the estate, overlooking Bras d'Or Lake. The estate owned by the Bells is on the peninsula at the end of Road. It is now owned by their many descendants, is not open to the public, and is not visible from Road. The Bells' first residence on , the "Lodge", was built in 1888. The second and larger home, Hall (known locally as "The Point") was built in 1893. Both are visible from Baddeck, across Baddeck Bay. More information and pictures of the estate can be found by visiting the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site, a national park system unit and museum managed by Parks Canada, which contains many objects that were donated to the nation by Bell's descendants. The museum was designated a National Historic Site in 1952, while Hall was named a National Historic Site in 2018.Government of Canada Announces New National Historic Designations
Parks Canada news release, January 12, 2018

National Geographic Society maps

Alexander Graham Bell's father-in-law, Gardiner Greene Hubbard, was the first president of the National Geographic Society and Bell was its second president. Bell's son-in-law Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor was president of the National Geographic Society for many years, and his grandson, Melville Bell Grosvenor, and great-grandson Gilbert Melville Grosvenor were editors of the National Geographic Magazine and also Presidents of the Society. Perhaps as a result, both or Baddeck, the nearest town, are prominently displayed in National Geographic maps of the area, despite their relatively small size.

Gallery

File:Mabel and Alexander Graham Bell rowing in Beinn Bhreagh Harbor-1890s.jpg, 's little harbor offered the Bells opportunities for recreation, and later a shelter area for experiments in aviation and hydrofoils.
File:Alexander Graham Bell with three granddaughters.jpg, Alexander Graham Bell relaxing on with three of his granddaughters.
File:The Late Dr Bell and Mrs Bell on Beinn Bhreagh.jpg, Mabel and Alexander Graham Bell were depicted in a postcard walking in front of their home, Hall.
File:Beinn Bhreagh across the bay from the town of Baddeck, Nova Scotia, 1906.jpg, Red Head Point and the peninsula of can be seen across the bay from the town of Baddeck, Nova Scotia in a 1906 postcard.
File:The town of Baddeck can be seen across the bay from one of the lookouts on Beinn Bhreagh..jpg, The town of Baddeck can be seen from one of the lookouts on in a postcard from the 1920s.

See also

* Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site, Baddeck, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada
* Bell Boatyard, part of the estate
* Bell Homestead National Historic Site, Brantford, Ontario, Canada
* Bell Memorial
* Dr. Mabel H. Grosvenor, last surviving grandchild and personal secretary of Alexander Graham Bell, and a steward of the estate until her death in 2006
* Historic Buildings in Baddeck, Nova Scotia
* History of Baddeck
* Index of Alexander Graham Bell related articles
* Victoria County, Nova Scotia

References

{{Baddeck

Alexander Graham Bell
Canadian Gaelic
General Service Areas in Nova Scotia
National Geographic Society