History of the Rose Island Lighthouse
by Charlotte Eschenheimer Johnson

Built in 1869 on the Southwest bastion of Fort Hamilton, the Rose Island Lighthouse first beamed its fixed red light over lower Narragansett Bay on January 20, 1870. The fog bell was established on August 10, 1885 and hung in a wooden "A" frame structure. John Bailey Cozzens was the first keeper (1869-1872).

Rose Island Lighthouse ~ Photo (ca.1910) courtesy of Wanton Chase, grandson of Charles and Christina Curtis.

Its second keeper was Civil War veteran George C. Williams. An 1873 article in the Newport Mercury marking Washington’s Birthday reported that this ever-faithful patriot "unfurled the Stars and Stripes to the breeze from his conspicuous standpoint, which was probably the first time a flag has waved from that island since the Revolution."

Rose Island had been called "Conockonoquit" (or the place of the long point) by Native Americans, and Gustavus Clarke, beginning his term in 1879 as the third keeper, regularly pleaded to the authorities for sea walls to protect the vulnerable grassy long point on the northern most end of the 23-acre island from erosion. His pleadings went unheeded, and eventually, the Portland Gale of 1898 reduced that grassy cow pasture to the tidal flats we see today at low tide. The present area of Rose Island is said to be about 17 acres, of which 1.5 acres comprises the lighthouse reservation.

Charles S. Curtis held the post of lighthouse keeper for the longest term (1887-1918), earning two medals for life-saving during his tenure. He also saw the fog bell replaced with a fog horn, and on November 12, 1912, the first assistant keeper, Julius Johanssen, reported for duty and occupied the newly-remodeled second floor quarters until 1915, when he was replaced by Charles Fletcher.

As World War I came over the horizon, military security on Rose Island became a vital concern. Fort Hamilton’s old barracks and bunkers had become storehouses for the Navy’s explosives and torpedoes, making life at Rose Island about as comfortable as living on a powder keg.

According to payroll records and old lighthouse logbooks, the keepers and assistants appointed by the U.S. Lighthouse Service came and went, including
John Bailey Cozzens (1869-1872)
George C. Williams (1872-?)
Charles S. Curtis (1887-1918)
Julius Johanssen (1912-1915)
Charles Fletcher (1915-17)
Delancy E. Roode (1917-1919),
Thomas Pickup (1919-1921),
A. B. Bessett (1920-1921),
E.W. Newton (1921-1926),
Jesse Orton (1921-1936),
Charles Eldridge (1926-1941), and
George S. Bell (1936-1952), who initially served under the Lighthouse Service, then in 1941 served under the Coast Guard until 1952.

The lighthouse continued to be owned by the Coast Guard into the 1970’s but was made obsolete by the building of the Newport Bridge (now the Claiborne Pell Bridge). The lighthouse was discontinued and turned over to the Ocean and Engineering Program of the University of Rhode Island (URI) for marine research in 1976. However, vandalism prevented a permanent Bay monitoring station from being established there. The property was eventually turned over to the General Services Administration for disposal and was offered at no cost to the City of Newport in the Spring of 1984.

Rose Island Lighthouse Foundation Established

Realizing that the City of Newport would have difficulty adding the cost of restoring the terribly vandalized building to its budget, citizens from environmental and neighborhood groups immediately banded together to form the Rose Island Lighthouse Foundation. Signing the July 10, 1984 incorporation papers were: Thomas T. Benson, President; Curtis W. Bunting, Vice-President; H. Wells French, Jr., Secretary; Gary R. Esposito, Treasurer; and Charlotte E. Johnson, Assistant Secretary. An agreement was quickly reached with the City and the Foundation was authorized to restore, renovate and maintain the lighthouse and its surrounding grounds as an open, public historic site.

While volunteers immediately began cleaning out and boarding up the building in the Spring of 1984, it wouldn’t belong to the City for another year and a half-- not until the property was approved for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. In spite of this, two of the non-profit founding organizations collaborated -- Aquidneck Island Ecology and the Museum of Yachting -- to sponsor the lighthouse’s first clambake fundraiser at the Museum of Yachting's Fort Adams site in 1984.

Finally, on October 2, 1985, the lighthouse was deeded over at no cost to the City of Newport, under the condition that the rehabilitation plans presented by the Rose Island Lighthouse Foundation be achieved within five years, when the approved operations were scheduled to start. 

Founding Organizations

The following organizations each appointed a representative to serve on the first Board of Directors of the Rose Island Lighthouse Foundation. In addition, three directors were appointed from the City and the balance (making a total of 20) was elected from general membership.

Aggissiz Beach Association -- Dr. Neil Leerssen
Aquidneck Island Ecology -- Charlotte Johnson
5th Ward Improvement Association -- Ann B. Canole Twomey
Friends of the Waterfront -- Vic Farmer
Hill Association -- Patrick G. Kirby, II
Lower Thames Neighborhood Association -- Laurice Shaw Parfet
Museum of Yachting -- Thomas T. Benson
Newport Taxpayer’s Association -- Alfred L. Angel
Ochre Point Association -- Sidney S. Gorham, III
Point Association -- John H. Howard
Save the Bay -- Virginia B. Wood

Rehabilitation Turning Points

Once the IRS recognized the Rose Island Lighthouse Foundation's 501(c)(3) non-profit, tax-exempt status, RILF began fundraising in earnest. The lighthouse’s first grants were received from the American Express Foundation and the Rhode Island Foundation. In addition, a clever $10,000 Vacation Raffle was devised to match the Rhode Island Foundation grant, and news of it was picked up by the wire services. It wasn’t long before Rose Island’s past keepers and their families from all over the country were writing, sending old pictures, and telephoning to find out how to help with the project!

Initially, the Foundation’s rehabilitation plans were to restore the lighthouse like-for-like, as it was inherited from the government--a basic, wood-shingled Coast Guard building painted red on the top and white on the bottom. The first floor would be a "lighthouse museum" open to the public and the second floor would be the private keepers' quarters. However, it was realized that the standard museum concept was a misfit from the start. The cost to insure exhibits that included Fresnel lenses was astronomical. In addition, scheduled public transportation to the tiny island lighthouse was not going to be available for several years. What to do?

Fortunately, folks like Wanton Chase (grandson of Charles and Christina Curtis, keeper 1887-1918), his brother and sisters, and Charlotte Olson (daughter of keeper George Bell) provided a tremendous amount of information, not about lighthouses in general, but about what it was like to live at THIS particular lighthouse as a child. Their wonderful stories of how their grandparents and parents managed their daily responsibilities were to form the basis for our "Living Museum" program today.

Another major turning point in the direction of the restoration occurred when Paul Stedman (grandson of Jesse Orton, keeper 1921-1936) produced photographs from the early 1920’s, showing a clapboarded first floor, beautifully patterned slate shingles on the Mansard roof, and decorative window and door trim. At the same time, the Foundation also received a large grant from the Alletta Morris McBean Charitable Trust, which insured the integrity of the exterior restoration of this classic piece of Narragansett Bay architecture.

Project Recognition and Approval

In 1986, with building and site plans donated by Newport Collaborative Architects in hand, the Foundation began to seek the necessary approvals and permits from a long list of federal, state and local regulators. Because the lighthouse had been abandoned for so long, it was treated as a new construction and needed to meet current codes for a public, historic, coastal property.

With no public utilities available on Rose Island, such as water, sewer, electricity or telephone, it appeared that the Rose Island lighthouse was an awkward square peg trying to be placed by a group of enthusiastic environmentalists into a round hole. It took four years, a lot of patience and more money than anyone had anticipated to finally make it fit.

Nevertheless, the project’s first major hurdle was cleared with the help of the Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission, when the Rose Island Light was entered on the National Register of Historic Places on April 4, 1987. The last of a long list of permits was finally granted on August 22,1990 from the Coastal Resources Management Council, on condition that public access be limited to protect the nesting birds.

In all, the lighthouse restoration project was reviewed by and received the necessary approvals for rehabilitation, operation and maintenance from the following:

U.S. Department of the Interior (National Park Service)
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
U.S. Coast Guard (for status as Private Aid to Navigation)
The National Trust for Historic Preservation
R.I. Historical Preservation Commission
R.I. DEM, I.S.D.S. Division (Individual Sewage Disposal Systems)
R.I. DEM, Water Quality Division
R.I. DEM, Water Resources Division
R.I. Fish and Wildlife
R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council
R.I. Fire Safety Code Board of Appeal and Review
City of Newport Building Inspection Division
City of Newport Fire Department

1986-- Vandalism, close proximity to the sea and a leaking roof contributed to the total deterioration of the interior plaster, which, along with 15 years’ bird droppings, was carefully sprayed with a fungicide and removed by volunteers. By 1987 the Coast Guard’s metal cistern had been removed to reveal rotten areas behind it. Wood shingles were stripped, the diagonal plank sheathing was repaired and another layer of plywood sheathing added for strength and uniformity in readiness for it to be reshingled.

1988-- was a major turning point. Paul Stedman’s photos from the 1920’s, plus the first of two restoration grants from the Alletta Morris McBean Charitable Trust provided for new window and door trim, clapboards on the first floor and, most noticeably, for the striking new slate roof.

1991-- the lighthouse exterior 99% complete...a $100,000 capital campaign was launched to finish the lighthouse and install environmentally sound utility systems, including wind-generated electricity.

August 7, 1993, 9:15 PM - FIREWORKS set off by Noreen Drexel and Betty Smith to celebrate the completion of the restoration and the official relighting of the Rose Island Lighthouse as a private aid to navigation.

Living Museum and Environmental Education Center

Using first-hand input from past keepers’ families, the Foundation has faithfully restored the first floor to the 1912-1921 period, complete with an upright piano in the music room, a pitcher pump at the pantry sink and a wood/coal burning range and the same oak sideboard in the kitchen that Christina Curtis used. Wanton Chase even remembers which drawer contained his grandmother’s just-baked sugar cookies.…

The museum is open daily for public tours only from July 1 until Labor Day between 10 AM and 4 PM when our guides are on site. The Newport-Jamestown Ferry provides scheduled public transportation. During the rest of the year group tours are made by appointment. For more information on public tours, see "Tours."

After the museum closes each day, we invite people to become old-fashioned keepers for the night – to live just like in the old days. For more information on this part of our educational program see "Overnight in the Museum".

During the spring and fall semesters, we offer school field trips so children can learn about the connections between history and conservation. For more information see "Education Programs"

Modern Keepers Quarters

The second floor has been renovated to become the home of modern day keepers. Appliances and utilities for the two room apartment have been selected and designed to take into consideration the building codes for a public site, efficiency and strict environmental standards. We invite people to learn about lighthouse keeping by becoming our keepers for one week at a time. For more information see "Lighthouse Keeping"

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