Some family friends are on vacation, and their first stop was this afternoon at Campobello Island, the summer retreat for the Franklin Roosevelt family.

Franklin’s parents had a cottage on the island between Canada and Maine, and spent many summers away from Manhattan, and Hyde Park.  After Franklin married Eleanor, “Campo” became their retreat, staying with the indomitable Sarah Delano Roosevelt.  A neighbor, Mrs. Kuhn, who adored the young couple, left provisions in her will for Sarah to purchase the 30+ room cottage for Franklin and Eleanor.

The summer and fall of 1920, this vibrant young politician, newly relieved of his duties as assistant secretary of the Navy during WWI, campaigned with Dayton, Ohio’s own James Cox on the Democratic presidential ticket as Cox’s vice-presidential running mate.  Roosevelt’s star was rising.

The following August, 1921, Roosevelt, after spending time swimming with “the chicks” in the chilled waters of The Bay of Fundy, the strapping 39 year old Roosevelt walked up these steps, on his own, for the last time.

The Staircase at Campobello   Photo credit: Brady Kress

The next morning, young Franklin Roosevelt could not move his legs….

As my friend wrote, “the world was about to change when FDR walked up these steps for the last time.”