White Head Island
island in Grand Manan Parish, Charlotte County, New Brunswick, Canada
White Head Island is located east of Grand Manan in the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick. In 2011 the island had a population of 162. By 2021 it had decreased to 139. In 2023 the chair of the island's recreation committee estimated that the population, including summer residents, was 130. White Head Island was governed as a local service district prior to the 2023 New Brunswick local governance reform.
For approximately four hours surrounding low tide, the island can be reached on-foot from Grand Manan walking across sandbars and ledges through shallow water. A channel was dredged to allow fishing boats to reach the wharf to access White Head Village.
Infrastructure
Its economy is based largely around aquaculture and fishing, historically through herring weirs.
The island had a two-classroom White Head Elementary School, until it was closed and students transferred to Grand Manan Community School. From 1976-2012, the island was served by the MV Lady White Head, until it was replaced by Coastal Transport Limited's William Frankland free car ferry between White Head and Grand Manan.
“White Head Island” enters the record as island in Grand Manan Parish, Charlotte County, New Brunswick, Canada. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what White, Head and Island can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“White Head Island” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, White, Head and Island provides the most credible route into that argument.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3593258. Authority coordinates are 44.628, -66.705. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2011, 2021, 2023 and 1976.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “White Head Island”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow White Head Island primary sources, White Head Island archive and White research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “White Head Island”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “White Head Island” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.