circa 1910 Although it was "likely" spotted by
Sebastian Cabot in 1498 and
Gaspar Cortereal in 1501, it was Portuguese explorer
João Álvares Fagundes who charted the area around 1520, but it first appeared cartographically on
Diogo Homem's 1558 map. French merchant-explorer
Étienne Bellenger visited the area in January 1583. In 1606
Samuel de Champlain sheltered on nearby White Head Island and produced a map calling the island "Manthane", which later changed to "Menane" or "Menasne". The word "Manan" believed to be a corruption of
mun-an-ook meaning "the island", from the
Wolastoqiyik,
Passamaquoddy, and
Penobscot First Nations. It was also previously known as Great St. Mary's Island. In 1693, the island 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. The first white settler was Joel Bonney in 1779 who paid the natives $10 and a cow to winter on the island where his wife gave birth to a son, before they departed the following year. In 1784,
Moses Gerrish gathered a group of settlers on an area of Grand Manan he called Ross Island, in honour of settler Thomas Ross, and formed the first permanent settlement. During the American Revolution, just off the island there were many naval battles between American privateers and British shipping. 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. Britain obtained title in
Jay's Treaty of 1794, while surrendering its sovereignty claims over Eastport on Moose, Frederick and Dudley islands in nearby
Cobscook Bay. From 1812 to 1814, the Bay of Fundy was infested with
privateers who raided and plundered villages. The ownership of islands in
Passamaquoddy Bay was not settled until 1817, when the United States gave up its claim to Grand Manan and the surrounding islands. In 1814, the
schooner George was purchased at prize-auction and intentionally loaded with specifically ordered British goods at
Saint John so John Tappen could fraudulently have captains William Sebor and Henry Dekoven stage a fraudulent capture of
George by his own privateer ship
Fly and seize the insured goods when it was docked at Long Island Harbour, Grand Manan. In 1831 the island's first lighthouse,
Gannet Rock Lighthouse, was built on a rocky islet south of Grand Manan, to guide shipping en route to Saint John. This period was also marked by a number of shipwrecks off the island's rocky, cliff-lined coast. In 1857, the ship , was driven into the cliffs at the northern end of the island by hurricane-force winds to great loss of life. Another wreck was the Nova Scotian
barque , which was bound for Saint John, from
Wales when it wrecked on the White Ledge off Grand Manan on September 14, 1878. By 1851, the island population numbered almost 1,200 permanent inhabitants, most working in fishing. Two years earlier,
Moses Henry Perley studied the fisheries and noted
"the people of Grand Manan enjoy perfect free trade. No duties whatever are paid by the inhabitants of Grand Manan, in fact there is no person there authorized to receive duties. The inhabitants take their fish to Eastport or Lubec, and there sell them at low prices takin in return such articles as they need for home consumption...as there is a perfectly good understanding with the fishermen of Maine.". In 1874,
foxes were introduced to the island "unaccountably", which drove gull and tern populations away. In 1898, it was noted that the island's high western cliffs and recent American tariffs made Grand Manan a key space for smugglers. In the late Victorian era, tourists began visiting the island, including author
Willa Cather and painters
Alfred Thompson Bricher and
John James Audubon.
Spencer Fullerton Baird carried out a 19th century archaeological study of the island. In 1967, the
Grand Manan Museum was opened, with exhibits including the large lens from the Gannett Rock Lighthouse and taxidermied bird specimens from
Allan Moses. In 2005, approximately fifty Islanders engaged in
vigilante justice in removing a drug dealer from the island as five, "whom many considered heroes", were criminally charged.
NDP candidate Andrew Graham noted "I don't know what it's like to see what crack [cocaine] is doing to your children. It was a pressure cooker and they reached their limit." Investing in the island in the aftermath of the violence which had drawn international headlines, the government built a youth centre and outdoor skating rink. It was rebuilt within a year. Christians' Temple was built in Woodward's Cove by the Baptist minister Mr. Cook, but passed into ownership of Joseph Lakeman who was converted to the
Disciples of Christ denomination by the visiting Elder George Garraty, but was later converted to a
Latter Day Saints temple after Lakeman declared himself a Mormon. It later burned down, and was not rebuilt. Island community norms "officially prohibited drinking". In 1975, an outsider from Toronto was disparaged on the island for purchasing the Marathon Hotel and applying for a
liquor license angering religious leaders who had blocked liquor licenses on the island five times previously, with local MLA
James Tucker noting "It's an atrocity...I'm only taking the side of 95% of the island opposition". With the arrival of Baptist revivalists, Anglicanism faltered and "religion became almost their only entertainment - and remains so." In the 19th century, bursts of religious fervour would see dancing forbidden and amusements frowned upon on Grand Manan for a time, although evangelical missionary zeal was uncommon. Fishermen adhered to a "strict "no-Sunday" rule" which prohibited checking lobster traps or harvesting herring from weirs on Sundays. This community norm persisted until at least 2000 in the community of Seal Cove. There are also two Anglican churches dating back to Loyalist days, three Baptist, and a small Catholic church. As of 2021, 1% of Grand Manan identified as following a religion other than Christianity. ==Geography and Geology==