Cockburn Island (Island Week)
Cockburn Island is a ‘ghost’ island in Ontario, which despite the apparent signs of life (there’s a small town and marina) has an official population of zero. The 1996 census listed a population of just two, but both people had left by 2001, making this the least populated incorporated municipality in Canada.
Some of these abandoned houses are supposedly still used as holiday homes, but what interests me if the makeshift airport to be found deep in the forest. It’s evidently still in use but I’ve found no mention of the airport around the internet. Most websites say that the marina is the “only way of getting on the island”, but it’s clearly not. If you asked me, an abandoned island would be the perfect place for an evil empire to keep its headquarters…
Thanks: Matt Blum & Taylor
Do you know of any author or books about Cockburn Island
which talk about the history of the island?
There is a book about Cockburn Island it is titled “Yonder our Island”.
Hello All
Cockburn Island is a very nice place, I spent five months there this year logging and it is amazing the amount of people that are there and the amout of camps. There are 2 people that stay there year round and they have been there since the 1970’s and this year will be their last as they are getting a little older now. I here that 1 of the younger town guys may try to stay there all year round next year.
It has a lot of history. and is an amazing place to visit.
Hello, I am familiar w/ Drummond Island as I visit once every few years to do some campining in the summer. However Cockburn Island is brand new to me. If I were to take a boat from the East end of Drummond Island to the West end of Cockburn Island during the spring, summer, or fall what would be the odds of me running into another person if I was just camping and fising along the shore by myself? Is there any property owners who might take offense?
hi u all school houe one arce intrested
Sorry to cut into your convo, but I can’t stand it anymore. My Great Great Grandfather Thomas Stanley Goodmurphy settled there around 1860 and raised my Great Grandfather and he as well and my Grandfather, and My grandmother has the original papers from “Yonder Our Island” . I have never actually been there but when my GG Grandfather moved there he owned like 1000 acres. And I don’t know what ever happened to it. I was just wondering if anyone knows either him, my great grandfather ross, my grandfather kenneth, or even my father steven. All Goodmurphys by the way.
Our family lives in thessalon after my grandfather moved away from there and you can look us up in the book.
LOL, if you look, you may still find the old goodmurphy homestead (the all pine cabin). But unfortunatley they are cutting all the wood off of it so it won’t be a metropolis for long.
goodmurphy talk to gord nichols he lives in thessalon he still has a camp on cockburn island and his grandparents settled there years ago he may have heard of them and the all pine cabin
his number is in the book
goodmurphy sorry gord lives in bruse mines he parks his boat in thessalon it is a 30 foot boat he travels to cockburn from there he shouldn,t be hard to find
brouse mines
Yeah, I was just wondering if anyone knew why noone lives there anymore because I’ve heard stories from my grandfather that it was a really great place to live. Our family lives in thessalon, and bruce mines is pretty close so i’ll see.
I’m planning a bicycle trip from the upper peninsula of MI to Manitoulin Island. It looks like there is a road that runs almost to the shore near the west side of Cockburn Island. Would it be possible to travel from the east side of Drummond to the west side of Cockburn and then ride across the island to catch a boat to Meldrum Bay?
I bought 25 acres on Cockburn Island 40 years ago and have yet to see it. I made a few trips to try and get information and have viewed it from Drummond and Canada ahoreline. Could you direct me to someone who has information as to access and what’s there?
We lived on Cockburn Island for one year - 1957 to 1958 - I remember, we had a very small cottage like home, no electricity , washroom facilities was an outhouse- my dad and brother worked in Forrestry, cutting trees, we left for Thessalon in July 1958 and then moved to Iron Bridge the following years.
Cathy James a name I know well I went to high school with Rick and Cathy but it was from 1975-1979 they lived on Cockburn Island
Some pretty nasty things said about Cockburn Island. My father has lived on this island for about 30 years. He helped build the airport and bunker, which is privately owned. It is his saw mill that he set up, and built a beautiful home with. The island is a beautiful place to get away from it all. The people that have “camps” on Cockburn Island are friendly and a lot of fun. One summer on my stay there, I help stain and varnish the wood for the new ceiling in the church. My father cut and donated the wood. I could hardly keep up with the elders. The church, town hall and school are kept up. Most of the homes, or camps as they call them, are owned by people that were born on the island. Second and third generations are now visiting or buy property to build as it becomes available. There is a beautiful beach, a few dirt roads and a friendly and kind atmosphere. Unless you have visited this place, I wouldn’t be making negative comments, based on what you see on a Google aerial shot.
Laurie
hello,
My Great Grandparents were Thomas Stanley Goodmurphyand Henrietta Goodmurphy. My parents have a camp on Cockburn Island. It is beautiful. Lots of deer and other wild life. People go hunting for deer on the island in the fall. You can get to Cockburn by air or by getting someone to give you a ride on their boat. It can be quite costly. I know most people either travel via Thessalon or by Meldrum Bay on Manitoulin. You should really make plans ahead of time. You cannot just catch a ferry. Cockburn is very charming. It has an old school house, church, graveyard. Cockburn Island is the only ghost town in Ontario to still elect a town council.
Hi folks. I have property on Cockburn Island which I visit every year. My family settled there around 1900 and great grandfather (and a few of his kids) are buried in the cemetary. It is a terrific, remote, beautiful place, and the people who have camps there are really great. It’s really like stepping back in time. There are no grow ops that I can think of, and we haven’t yet stumbled on a Unabomber type. Just miles of forested trails, white sand beaches, and clear Lake Huron water. And the property is stupidly inexpensive, and there is lots of it for sale, as the older generation is getting too old to maintain their camps. Harold McQuarrie in Sault Ste Marie is the walking encyclopedia of all things Cockburn Island.