Kennebunkport Kennebunkport Chamber of Commerce

Kennebunk / Kennebunkport Chamber of Commerce_

Lighthouses

Goat Island Light – Best viewed from the municipal pier at Cape Porpoise, a village in the town of Kennebunkport. Goat Island marks the northeast entrance to Cape Porpoise Harbor, a working harbor of over 50 lobster boats. The lighthouse was first established in 1833, with John Lord of Kennebunk, as it’s first keeper, at a salary of $350 per year. The existing tower and house were rebuilt in 1859, with a fifth order Fresnel lens installed. Goat Island has the distinction of being the last manned lighthouse in Maine. In 1990 it became the next to last lighthouse in the United States to be automated. It is still an active aid to navigation with the current light managed by the U.S. Coast Guard. In 1997, under the Maine Lights Program, the lighthouse became the property of the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust, which since it’s founding in 1969, has protected and maintained some of the area’s most important and beautiful natural areas.

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Wood Island Light – One of Maine’s oldest light stations marks the entrance of the Saco River and lies just offshore from Biddeford Pool. The lighthouse was first established in 1808 and rebuilt in 1858.

The best-known Wood Island legend concerns a lobsterman who lived on the island with his wife.The man was also a special policeman and was said to have been a giant, about 30 years old, who easily carried his dory on his shoulders.A younger man then took up residence on the island.

One day the young man returned from a session of heavy drinking on the mainland.The lobsterman found his new neighbor wandering drunk with a rifle in his arms and told the man to hand over the weapon.The younger man refused and fired the rifle at the lobsterman, mortally wounding him in the abdomen.

In a daze the young man wandered to the keeper’s dwelling at the lighthouse,where Keeper Thomas Orcutt advised him to give himself up to the authorities.The man returned to his small shack and proceeded to put a bullet in his own head.Strange events have been reported over the years at Wood Island, and some blame the ghost of the murdered lobsterman. To learn more about the light, visit www.LighthouseFoundation.org. The island is not open to the public as most of the island is a Maine Audubon Preserve and extreme caution is advised as the island is infected with a virulent strain of poison ivy.

The Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse offered tours last season of Wood Island Light Station. The Light Runner departed Vines Landing in Biddeford Pool at 6 p.m. on Wednesdays, 1 p.m. & 2 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.The trip and tour take about two hours.There is no cost but donations are appreciated. You will need to contact them to find out if it will be the same for 2005.

Boon Island Light – Established in 1811, the lighthouse stands on a small rocky island 6 miles off the coast out from York Beach. The lighthouse is one of the most isolated along the coast and is also the tallest lighthouse in Maine. There are many tales and a legend about it’s colorful past. The U.S. Coast Guard leases the light to the American Lighthouse Foundation. To learn more about Boon Island and The American Lighthouse Foundation, visit www.LighthouseFoundation.org. You can also become a citizen of The Republic of Boon Island for a donation of $25. Being a corrupt nation you can also give a larger donation and hold political office. The light is not open to the public, but check with Lighthouse Depot as plans are in the works for helicopter trips out to the island.

Nubble Light - The Cape Neddick Lighthouse stands on Nubble Island just off Cape Neddick Point. The lighthouse is commonly known as “Nubble Light”. Cape Neddick Point is located at the north end of Long Beach in the village of York Beach. This lighthouse, too, is inaccessible but the nearby mainland is occupied by Sohier Park,which offers ample parking, a telescope and a welcome center.

Long before the current surge in the popularity of lighthouses, Nubble Light had become a famous American icon. In 1977 NASA launched the Voyager, which flew fly by Jupiter and kept on going into outer space. The probe carries photographs of Earth’s most prominent manmade structures and natural features. A photo of Nubble Light accompanies photos of the Great Wall of China, the Grand Canyon, etc.