Alexander Graham Bell’s Beloved Baddeck

While the cities of Boston, Massachusetts, Washington, D.C., and Brantford, Ontario can all lay claim to hosting the brilliant mind of inventor Alexander Graham Bell, it is the Bras d’Or Lakes village of Baddeck, Nova Scotia that truly captured his heart. It is in Baddeck that Bell relaxed, retired, and found his final resting place, leaving behind a spirit of joyful discovery and the inspiration of a life well lived.

Bell had already achieved fame and fortune as the inventor of the telephone when he and his wife, Mabel Hubbard Bell, first visited the Nova Scotia village. Bell, who had long ago left his parent’s home in Brantford, Ontario to pursue work in Boston and Washington, was immediately drawn to the beauty of Baddeck’s lakeside setting. He took pleasure in its resemblance to his Scottish homeland, and reveled in the refreshing coolness of the Bras d’Or summer.

The following year, in 1886, Bell returned with his family to Baddeck, taking up residence in an existing lodge. The village became the family’s annual summer refuge. In 1893, the Bells completed the construction of their gracious summer home, Beinn Bhreagh.

Although the Bells took great delight in the recreational pleasures of the Bras d’Or Lakes, they were anything but idle during their Baddeck sojourns. Bell quickly went to work setting up studios, workshops, labs and even an experimental sheep farm, where he tested his theories of heredity and genetics. The sight of the famous inventor’s bright red tetrahedral kites soaring over the waters of the Lakes, the thrill of the Silver Dart’s first flight, and the roar of the world’s first hydrofoil (see “The World’s Fastest Watercraft“) brought drama, excitement and notoriety to the quiet Bras d’Or community. In later years, the family’s nimble yacht, the Elsie, sailed serenely on the breezy Lakes, and occasionally, the village found itself pictured on the pages of National Geographic magazine. Bell was a past president of the National Geographic Society, his father-in-law was its founding member, and his son-in-law, Gilbert Grosvenor, became the Society’s publication editor.

Bell’s presence also brought a new measure of prosperity to Baddeck; up to 50 people were employed in the care of his estate and the operation of his work, and his aviation experiments helped to launch the illustrious careers of both hometown boy J.A. McCurdy and his friend, “Casey” Baldwin. The community derived lasting benefit from the Bells’ personal kindness, public generosity and intellectual infusion. Mabel Hubbard Bell was instrumental in founding both the Baddeck Public Library and the first chapter of the national Home and School Association.
When Bell retired from Washington, he and wife took up year-round residence in Baddeck. Bell died in Baddeck in 1922; both he and his wife Mabel are buried on their estate in the Bras d’Or village. Their beloved home, Beinn Bhreagh, is still privately maintained by their descendants.

Visit the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site
Stroll through the lush grounds and gardens, and tour one of the world’s most comprehensive collections of Bell artifacts, at the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site, one of Canada’s most outstanding heritage exhibits. Located in the village of Baddeck, overlooking the Bras d’Or Lakes and the Bell family’s summer estate, the site is open year-round, with expanded hours and special activities during the summer vacation season.

In a series of themed exhibits, visitors can learn more about the Bell’s Baddeck home, the life and achievements of Mabel Hubbard Bell, Dr. Bell’s work in teaching the hearing-impaired, and the wide range of experiments carried out by Bell and his associates. Among the featured exhibits, “Air” and “Water” focus on Bell’s work with gigantic kites, early aircraft designs, and high-speed hydrofoils. Highlights include parts from the Silver Dart biplane, flown by pioneering aviator J. A. McCurdy, and the spacious Hydrofoil Hall, featuring both the original hull and a full-scale reproduction of the ground-breaking HD-4 hydrofoil.

The site also contains replicas of early telephone models, and a display of over 600 poster-size photographs, compiled by Bell’s son-in-law, Gilbert Grosvenor, an early editor of National Geographic magazine.

An adjacent picnic area and look-out deck features 2 interpretive panels that trace the history of the Bras d’Or Lakes and describe their rich Mi’Kmaq heritage.