The Beaconess

by ANDREA McHUGH • photography by ERIN McGINN

With the wind tousing her sun-streaked amber tresses, sea spray off the bow misting her face and a smile that could steal a spotlight, saltwater seems to run through Nora Eschenheimer’s veins. Effortlessly maneuvering Narragansett Bay’s gentle swells in the early morning light behind the wheel 96-year-old classic motor yacht, the confident captain cruises by Rose Island, the shining jewel in the bay’s crown, and while her passengers take in the majestic lighthouse and serene island surroundings, Nora sees her childhood, barefoot and mischievous, plucking treasures from its sandy shore.

Lighthouse keeping is Nora’s birthright. “I’ve been on the water since I was a tiny little kid, hanging out at lighthouses and just assuming that was the normal way of living forever,” she says with a chuckle. It was an idyllic Newport youth, surrounded by “hard-working adventurous people,” pointing to her father, a pilot; her mother, a nurse; and her aunt, a boat captain; as examples.

“There were so many people doing exciting things around me that it was like, ‘Yeah, I’m gonna do that! Hey, I want to do that too!,’ but it never felt like a pipe dream because I was watching people around me do it all the time,” she recalls. “I feel really lucky to have been surrounded by big hearts and adventurous spirits.”

Shortly before her birth, Nora’s family had to fight for at least one part of their way of living. The lighthouse and surrounding island weren’t always the protected historic living museum and environmental education center found there today. “My family helped prevent Rose Island Lighthouse from being bulldozed and turned into a marina and a whole bunch of 1980s condos,” Nora says. Long before her family shaped its future though, you need to understand Rose Island’s past.

There were so many people doing exciting things around me that it was like, ‘Yeah, I’m gonna do that! Hey, I want to do that too!’ I feel really lucky to have been surrounded by big hearts and adventurous spirits.

Nora Eschenheimer, Rose Island Lighthouse

Originally used as fishing grounds for the Narragansett Indian Tribe, who later sold it to a local family, President John Adams purchased the 18-acre island for the construction of Fort Hamilton. The fort was to be part of Narragansett Bay’s coastal defense system, but it was never completed. The two-story, wood-framed lighthouse that stands today was built on the southwest bastion of the fort in 1869, and for more than a century, much of the other side of the island was used for storage of ammunition and explosives, later serving as a torpedo warhead arming facility through World War II. It remained under Coast Guard operation until 1970, when the lighthouse was decommissioned and taken out of service, its role made obsolete by the completion of the Newport Bridge in 1966 and ships being equipped with advanced navigational aids.

Decades passed and the lighthouse fell into disrepair; a dilapidated remnant withered by the passage of time and amateur vandals. It remained so until 1984, when Newport residents Charlotte Johnson — Nora’s aunt — and Curt Bunting led the charge to save the lighthouse from demolition. Their newly-formed Rose Island Lighthouse Foundation convinced the City of Newport to take ownership of the lighthouse from the federal government, and an eight-year grassroots effort to restore it depended on generous donations of labor, materials and cash by the community. The efforts were realized when the light shone bright again on National Lighthouse Day, August 7, 1993.

Nora, who also captains Rose Island’s launch, the M/V Rose, looks to her aunt Charlotte, now retired, as a leader, joining a long legacy of waterwomen who have watched over Newport’s shores for more than a century. She’s reminded of Ida Lewis, who grew up and worked at the lighthouse on Lime Rock bearing her name today. Just one nautical mile from Rose Island on the southern side of Newport Harbor, Lewis served as the official lighthouse keeper there from 1879 to 1911. Known then as “the bravest woman in America,” she is credited with saving 18 lives, although local lore says the number was much higher.

“Hell yeah! Absolutely — waterwomen, female lighthouse keepers; it’s stepping up to the plate,” Nora says with conviction. “Charlotte had to bust that glass ceiling, but the more women who break it, the thinner it gets.”

Nora has spent the past 12 summers captaining Rum Runner II, a 58-foot luxury cruising yacht designed for running alcohol throughout Narragansett Bay during Prohibition. When she started, it was rare to see a woman driving a tour boat on the water, she says. Today, with a 100-ton boat captain license to her name, things look different.

“I would say the majority of the captains are female, and that is a recent switch. There was a moment where I was on the VHF radio making a call for Rum Runner to enter the wharf, and it was followed by about five female voices, all captains, all responding to my security call. I was like, ‘This is an extraordinary moment in time.’ It’s where we’re making steps forward. I’m the first female captain of the Rum Runner II ever, and the boat was built in 1929, so yeah, it’s a bit overdue, but it’s just nice that there’s been a flood of women not only feeling brave enough – well, it has nothing to do with women feeling brave enough, it has everything to do with being offered the opportunity,” she explains.

Rose Island Lighthouse, which shares the island with a wildlife refuge and bird nesting habitat, offers the rare opportunity for the public to stay overnight and become lighthouse keepers during their stay. Some of the various accommodations lack heat, electricity or an indoor bathroom facility as sustainability is sacrosanct here. Outhouse bathrooms are fed by rainwater, and all guests, including daily visitors, are asked to strictly observe the foundation’s “carry in-carry out” policy for all trash and recycling accumulated on the island, and to act as stewards of the land, disposing of any debris that may cause harm to marine animals and wildlife. (The lighthouse keeper’s apartment on the second floor however, suited for stays of a week or longer, is fully furnished with everyday amenities.)

Rose Island Lighthouse offers the rare opportunity for the public to stay overnight and become lighthouse keepers during their stay.

Women at the Helm

Opposite: Nora setting out on the Rum Runner II, the Prohibition-Era cruising yacht, for a harbor cruise. Below left: Preparing the boat for a supply run to Rose Island.

Below right: A memorable moment when Nora’s aunt Charlotte Johnson (co-founder of the Rose Island Lighthouse Foundation) witnessed her niece signing her captain’s license in 2022. Charlotte was the first female captain in the family, Nora a proud second! (Photo: Jesse Default)

Overnight stays have been more popular than ever, but in the cruelest months, in the cold, quiet wintertime (and sometimes, not so quiet), Nora heeds the island’s call. “You no longer have to bring kerosene to the lantern room and polish the lens in the same way that you would have had to back in 1869,” she quips. But enduring a mid-winter Nor’easter with sustained winds of 56 knots and only your little dog by your side isn’t for the faint of heart. “It was the most physically alone I think I’ve ever been, with only a mile between me and shore,” she admits about a storm last winter, but she also says that night, she felt the spirits of the keepers of the light who came before, and it steeled her will as she spent the night tending to a leaky roof, airborne debris and punishing rain.

“I believe that lighthouses should not be left alone. Lighthouses need lighthouse keepers. They spend all this time protecting people, and now it’s our job to protect them,” she explains

When not shepherding passengers around the bay or toiling at the lighthouse, Nora can be found on stage. An award-winning professional actor, many of her roles are of Shakespeare’s strongest female leads, most recently playing Rosalind in As You Like It for thousands in Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s annual summertime performances on Boston Common.

Like everything she does, she approaches acting with unapologetic zeal — an instinct embedded in her DNA, whether captivating an audience in a swanky downtown theater or tackling backbreaking tasks on her favorite secluded island.

I believe that lighthouses should not be left alone. Lighthouses need lighthouse keepers. They spend all this time protecting people, and now it’s our job to protect them.

Nora Eschenheimer

THEN AND NOW Keeper Jesse Orton shuttling guests to Rose Island decades ago. Today, Nora makes daily shuttles to the island that she loves.

Saving the Island

Discover more about Nora’s aunt, Charlotte Johnson, and how she and other concerned residents formed Citizens to Protect Rose Island and their unique July 6, 1985 protest. READ STORY HERE.

Left: Nora’s father, Jesse Eschenheimer (center with sunglasses) holding up the wall of sheets during the 1985 protest against the commercial development of Rose Island. He, also, lends his support and talents to Rose Island – he welded the catwalk atop the lighthouse, as seen below in Nora’s recent wedding photo (Photo: Mark Andrew Media).

“I think it’s our mission as the Foundation to light that fire in many people’s hearts, because sure, it’s nice that Charlotte has absolutely instilled that in me, and my family’s been able to instill that in me, but it’s one little lighthouse. We need this passion to be spread everywhere, and part of Rose Island’s mission is teaching that dedication to preservation, knowledge and protecting the past so we can learn from it,” she explains.

For Nora, it’s those lessons from her youth that carry into her future, no matter what hat she’s wearing on any given day.

“When we went out to Rose Island, or really anywhere in life, I always approached it with a sense that you’re there to make it a little bit better, and to work hard,” she says. “That’s how you find the joy in whatever it is that you’re doing.”

That joy, she insists, is celebrated in the simplest things, which is exactly what time spent on Rose Island brings people back to. And it’s a feeling, a way of life, that she insists shouldn’t be abandoned when guests board the motor launch that brings them back to Aquidneck Island.

“People say, ‘Back to reality!’ when they’re leaving Rose Island, and I’m like, ‘No, no, no! What you just experienced — that’s life!’ That’s the reality we all have to work harder to get back to; that feeling you have when you are connected with your environment, and aware of the weather, and how you feel, and the sun on your skin, and the wind in your face, and how all of your individual choices greatly affect the world around you. …I think those lessons, or the way that you feel on Rose Island, is the way we should be fighting to feel everywhere.”

Below: Nora’s early days on the island: sharing treasured time with her sister Morgan (left) and proudly promoting Rose Island merch as a child (center right). Now coming full circle – Nora proudly sports the merch in her current role at Rose Island (right).

Deep Blue Details

Rose Island Lighthouse + Fort Hamilton Trust
P.O. Box 1419
Newport, RI
401.847.4242

RoseIsland.org

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