Hawthorne Cottage National Historic Site

Hawthorne Cottage was the residence of the famous seafaring and arctic explorer Captain Robert (Bob) Abram Bartlett (1875-1946). Captain Bob Bartlett was in charge of the S.S. Roosevelt when Peary reached the North Pole, he later survived the wreck of the Karluk, and helmed the schooner Effie M. Morrissey. During the more than 50 years of his seafaring life, Captain Bartlett skippered some of the most famous, dangerous, and controversial exploratory expeditions to the Arctic. He traveled further north than almost any other living person, was shipwrecked at least 12 times, survived for months in the inhospitable Arctic after sea ice crushed his ship, and journeyed hundreds of miles by dogsled to reach civilization. Despite these hardships, Bartlett returned to the Arctic whenever circumstance allowed and almost always came back with photographs, film reels, and scientific data that greatly contributed to the world's understanding of the north. Bartlett often wrote of the hardships of his seafaring life, but also affirmed he was never as happy on land as at sea: “On shore a man is always worried because he hasn't twice as much as he has already got. It's not like that on board ship … you are contented with your life simply because you are living … If I had to do it over again I should be a sailor just the same. There is nothing so satisfying as the sea”

Bartlett is credited by marine historian Thomas Appleton with "the finest feat of leadership in Canadian Marine history" in his efforts to save the crew of the ill–fated Karluk under Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson. Bartlett's passed after contracting pneumonia in the spring of 1946 and died on April 28. His death sparked widespread mourning in both the United States and Newfoundland and Labrador, where he was celebrated as a national hero. His body is buried at Brigus and his former home, Hawthorne Cottage is designated as a National Historic Site of Canada. The cottage is a fine example of the picturesque style of architecture in Newfoundland and is furnished with artifacts and memorabilia from Captain Bob's voyages. "The Tunnel" was bored through solid rock on the waterfront in 1860 to provide access to a deep water berth for the Bartlett sailing ships.

Photo Credit: Photography copyright (c) 2011 Likester878. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.

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