We turned next to the history books, poring over them for any mentions of the lighthouses. Many were general references to the rockiness of the coast and the need for guidance in order to ensure safe passage. There was little information about these two specific lighthouses though.

I decided to try a different approach. While Trevor continued to look up historical info, I searched for the family name. It didn’t take long to get a hit. The Kent family moved into the Maine territory when it was still a part of the Massachusetts colony, working their way up the coast, eventually settling just northeast of Bar Harbor, along with several other family, most notably that of John C. Jones. The governor gave Jones the parcel of land on which the group had settled, and named it Jonesborough. Later, after Maine’s incorporation as a state, the town changed its name to Jonesport.

“Hamilton Point,” I said to Trevor, showing him the history of the town.

We headed over to the computers to try to get more info. A quick search led us to a couple of sites that informed us the lighthouse was neither open to the public, and best viewed by boat. Undeterred, and in some ways, encouraged, we browsed to a map site to get directions. Trevor typed in our current location, and the coordinates of the lighthouse.

“Houston, we’ve got a problem,” he said. “According to this site, there’s no way to drive to the Hamilton Point Lighthouse.”

“So we can’t get there?”

He clicked a button that switched the map image with an overhead satellite shot. “See this right here?” he said, pointing at an oblong landmass on the screen. “This is where the lighthouse is. It’s on an island” He clicks a couple more times, zooming in on the area. “See this thin line right here? I would guess that’s a small bridge connecting Hamilton Point to the mainland.”

“But it’s not an actual road,” I finished.

“Exactly.”

“Could you just print out directions to the spot where that bridge connects with the mainland?”

“I can do one better than that,” he said, pulling out his cell phone. “If I can find the coordinates of that spot, I can use my phone’s GPS. It’ll give us a better idea of where we are in relation to the bridge.”