Pope's Folly Island (also called Harris' Island,Geological Survey of Canada, Report of Progress 1870-1871, pgs 82-111, https://archive.org/details/report-of-progress-gsc_1870-1871/page/n5/mode/2up Green Island or Mark Island) is a small island located from the Canadian Campobello Island, but has been historically disputed whether it belongs to Canada or the United States.Carl, George Winter. "A Note on the Passamaquoddy Boundary Affair", March 1953, https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/50/article/623447/pdf
It has strategic value as it controls the entry to the channel, yet Canadian admiralty charts originally ceded it to the Americans, while US hydrographic charts ceded it to Canada.
Since 1910, the island has been part of the United States. There is a geodetic triangulation station on a rocky ledge on the north end."Triangulation in Maine", U.S. Government Printing Office, 1918
History Zibah Pope lived in Eastport, Maine working as a smuggler before moving to Saint George, New Brunswick while establishing a "trading post" on the island in 1812, taking advantage of the fact the international border ran through the center of it, where he built a storehouse - before losing a fortune and becoming a preacher.https://search.canbarchives.ca/zibah-popeLorimer, John G. "History of Islands and Islets in the Bay of Fundy, Charlotte County, New Brunswick", Archive.org copy, 1876 In 1823, the island's peculiar legal nature became the crucial point of two smuggling cases.District Court, D. Maine, June Term 1823, "Treat of Ghent - Island of Pope's Folly", https://law.resource.org/pub/us/case/reporter/F.Cas/0018.f.cas/0018.f.cas.0751.2.pdf A more romantic telling says that Pope was a woman-hating bachelor who retired to the island to avoid women, until the day came that he found himself having to save the life of a drowning widow.Mahon, A. Wylie. "Pope's Folly", The Canadian magazine : Vol. 37, no. 4 (Aug. 1911) https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_06251_222/30
In 1898, the US appointed Mr. Mendenhall and Great Britain appointed Mr. King, to locate the 1842 cast iron columns set in swamps near Amity, Maine and Richmond, New Brunswick that officially marked the boundary of the Treaty of Washington and determine on which side of a line between them Pope's Folly would lay.https://news.hrvh.org/veridian/?a=d&d=rocklandmessenger18930831.2.26,%20Rockland%20County%20Messenger,%20Volume%20XLVIII,%20Number%2024,%2031%20August%201893
In 1903, embers from a fire at the Lubec Sardine Company ignited the brush on Pope's Folly and devastated its trees.St. John star : Vol. 3, No. 289 (August 24, 1903), https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.N_00370_19030824/3 In 1909, Captain Young's schooner Rebecca went aground on Pope's Folly by error, and required towing.The Saint John standard : Vol. VIII, No. 98 (July 18, 1916)
President William Taft visited the area in 1911, stopping to view the island whose jurisdiction had been granted to the US, but did not visit the island. However a moose at that time swam ashore on the island, causing surprise.
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