11 Famous Places That Don't Really Exist

Beginning in the 16th century, cartographers mapping the new world included the ominously named “Isle of Demons” near Newfoundland and Labrador. It was believed that the island was the home of otherworldly monsters that would attack any ships that dared pass. But it’s not an entirely fictional place. There were even famous (real) residents of the island.

According to the account of 16th century explorer Andre Thevet, in 1542, noblewoman Marguerite de La Rocque was traveling to a Canadian colony and she had a shipboard affair with a sailor. This did not sit well with La Rocque’s uncle. He left the noblewoman, her maid servant, and the sailor on stranded on the “Isle of Demons.” Marguerite gave birth on the island, but the baby and the sailor died. She survived by hunting wild game until she was rescued two years later.

The story seems to have actually happened, but not on the fictional Isle of Demons. Marguerite was probably marooned on Quirpon Island or Harrington Harbour. By the mid 17th century, as more explorers charted North America, the Isle of Demons was quietly removed from maps.

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