In the 1880s, wealthy families from Toronto, Ottawa, Boston, New York City and Philadelphia were encouraged through advertising to spend summers on the Island of Campobello. The air was fresh and cool and the hotels new and modern.

A group of entrepreneurial businessmen from Boston and New York formed The Campobello Land Company and were intent on building a grand resort. Steamers ran along the East Coast, stopping in Bar Harbor and some went on to St. Andrews and St. John. Rail lines ran to Eastport, Maine. Two large hotels were built in 1882 and 1883 to accommodate the summer visitors: the Tyn-y-Coed and the Tyn-y-Maes. The Owen Hotel was transformed into a more modern establishment. These hotels contained cozy parlors, luxurious rooms with fresh ocean breezes, tastefully prepared food, entertainment, and one hotel even sported a bowling alley. Families could enjoy boating and canoeing, fishing, woodsy walks, and carriage rides to Lake Glen Severn.

A handful of visitors loved the island and decided to build summer cottages. A few notable families were the James Roosevelt family, father of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the Cochran Family of Philadelphia, the Gorham Hubbard family, and Samuel Wells family of Boston.

Life on the Island for seasonal summer residents was focused on social calls, dances, theatrical productions, and excursions across the island or to other islands in the bay. The summer residents were well supplied with food directly from the island: fish and shellfish, dairy, meats, eggs, and fresh vegetables could be procured on the Island. Any items not available on the island could be purchased from the many stores located in Eastport, just across the bay from Welshpool. Cottages built by the Roosevelt, Hubbard and Wells families still exist and can be visited at the Roosevelt Campobello International Park.

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