Matinicus Rock

The year is 1826, the new country is just fifty years old. The nation's coastline bustles with commerce. The young government, responding to the needs of industry, attempts to make the shipping lanes as safe as possible and acquires title to a lonely rock in the Atlantic off Maine's coast. Matinicus Rock is a barren outcropping off the coast of Maine. It is the southernmost feature of the Matinicus archipelago of five islands (four are partially wooded) and numerous high barren rocks. It is located about 22 miles off the mainland in the track of vessels plying the coastal waters of Maine, halfway between Monhegan Island to the south and Mount Desert Rock to the north. This barren ledge, which resembles the moon's surface, is raked with high winds, pounded and occasionally inundated by the sea and sometimes shrouded in thick fog.