Beinn Bhreagh
Beinn Bhreagh (/ˌbɛn ˈvriːə/ ben VREE-ə) is the name of the former estate of Alexander Graham Bell, in Victoria County, Nova Scotia, Canada. It refers to a peninsula jutting into Cape Breton Island's scenic Bras d'Or Lake approximately three kilometres (two miles) southeast of the village of Baddeck, forming the southeastern shore of Baddeck Bay.
The peninsula was known to the Mi'kmaq as Megwatpatek, roughly translated to "Red Head" due to the reddish sandstone rocks at the tip of the peninsula. The name Beinn Bhreagh—meaning "Beautiful Mountain" in Scottish Gaelic—is thought to have been given to the peninsula by Bell, who purchased approximately 242.8 hectares (600 acres) to form the estate in the late 1880s.
In July 2005, the Nova Scotia Civic Address Project review changed the status of Beinn Bhreagh from a "generic locality" to a "community".[1]
National Geographic Society maps[edit]
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 Beinn Bhreagh or Baddeck, the nearest town, are prominently displayed in National Geographic maps of the area, despite their relatively small size.
Beinn Bhreagh's little harbor offered the Bells opportunities for recreation, and later a shelter area for experiments in aviation and hydrofoils.
Alexander Graham Bell relaxing on Beinn Bhreagh with three of his granddaughters.
Mabel and Alexander Graham Bell were depicted in a postcard walking in front of their home, Beinn Bhreagh Hall.
Red Head Point and the peninsula of Beinn Bhreagh can be seen across the bay from the town of Baddeck, Nova Scotia in a 1906 postcard.
The town of Baddeck can be seen from one of the lookouts on Beinn Bhreagh in a postcard from the 1920s.
