by Jane Paznik-Bondarin

I don't know why lighthouses call to us as they do. Perhaps because as "beacons of the sea," they let us "look both ways"... out over the vast waters and back to the land at whose edge they sit. Perhaps it is the mystique of the lonely keeper, stranded between two worlds, guarding his secrets as well as the light. If lighthouses lift and lure your spirit as they do mine, a "two-fer" awaits you on Thacher Island, near Rockport, Massachusetts.

Three-quarters of a mile off the shore, twin lighthouses stand 166 feet above sea level. The original towers were built by the British in 1771, then the current 123-foot granite structures were built in 1861. In the early years of the 20th century, five families-some of whose descendants still live in Rockport-lived on the Island to maintain the lights. The North light was darkened in 1932 for economic reasons; the Coast Guard decommissioned the South light in 1980.

The Thacher Island lighthouses redefined land on which tragedy once struck. Called by ship to Marblehead from Ipswich in 1635 to preach the word of God, the Reverend John Avery and his family, accompanied by his cousin Anthony Thacher, Thacher's wife Elizabeth, and their six children, were dashed against the rocks here. Of the twenty-three family members and crew, only Thacher and his wife survived. The general court granted Thacher the land as his inheritance.

The non-profit Thacher Island Association works to restore the lighthouses, both of which have now been relit. Recently designated as a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service (one of fewer than 2,200 in America), the Island boasts a charming guest apartment for visitors.

If you have a strong back and a winning smile, you may want to apply to the town of Rockport to spend one-to-three months as a volunteer keeper. Job description: greet visitors and collect donations; paint, mow, and maintain the boats. The perks? Glorious sunrises and minute-by-minute change in the blue of the ocean and sky.

The lighthouses of Thacher Island are two of the six that ring Cape Ann, Massachusetts's "other cape." At the land's end of Route 128, less than an hour's drive north of Boston (traffic allowing), you'll find the magnificent coastline that explorer John Smith called paradise. He named the jagged cliffs left by the earth's melted ice "Tragabigzanda," or "turban," homage to a Turkish princess whom he loved; his patron, King Charles, renamed the place more prosaically after his mother, Ann. A late arrival in 1603, Samuel de Champlain called this spot "le beau port."

Today, keepers of inns, bed-and-breakfasts, and motels of every sort and price range graciously welcome visitors who come to explore, or to tan on the small and glorious white-sand beaches the dot the cape. Visitors stand on the piers from which fisherman have provided sustenance since 1623 (the oldest seaport in America); and visit the galleries of the artists who call Rockport and Gloucester their home. You can see what inspired Winslow Homer, Fitzhugh Lane, Emile Gruppe, and Anthony Thieme.

Wherever someone roams on Cape Ann, they are never be far from the sea. When they get close, the six light houses will guide, protect, and engage -the twin lights of Thacher Island most of all.

Jane Paznik-Bondarin lives in New York City
and enjoys only the best places in New England.
Her email is: jpaznik@nyc.rr.com .

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