Stepping back in time with the lighthouse keeper on Goat Island

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 13, 2026

Just beyond the Cape Porpoise Pier, where lobster boats idle in the harbor and seals surface between mooring buoys, Goat Island seems to slow time, Nick Lewia said. Lewia, 41, spent his childhood exploring Goat Island with the sons of its longtime keepers. Now, he lives there as the head keeper from May to November with his wife Amy, 12-year-old son Brandon and their hound-shepherd mix Mavis.His family joined an apprentice program in 2020, gradually taking on longer stays until the former caretakers retired in 2024. Last year, Lewia and his family officially took watch over the lighthouse, which local seafarers still rely on for safe passage into the harbor.