[1] The twin timber lighthouses, and lightkeeper's residence at North Bluff, were constructed in 1866 to designs prepared by the Office of the Colonial Architect, Charles Tiffin.

[1] In 1862, the Queensland government had appointed a Portmaster, Commander George Poynter Heath and had passed the Marine Board Act 1862.

Late in 1859 as a lieutenant, he applied for the government post of marine surveyor in the new colony of Queensland and was appointed.

[1] In the two years following the establishment of the Marine Board Act 1862, due to a lack of funds to spend on marine safety, activity concentrated on dealing with pilots and harbour lights, The issue of coastal lights was not taken up until 25 May 1864, when Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly moved that a Select Committee be appointed to inquiry into and report upon the state of the harbours and rivers in the colony.

The Committee consisted of Messrs Arthur Macalister, John Douglas, Gordon Sandeman, Robert Cribb, Henry Challinor and Joshua Peter Bell and convened for the first time on 27 May 1864.

[2] The Committee widened the terms of reference to include the question of the necessity of additional lighthouses on the coast of Australia, within the colony of Queensland.

[1] A call for tenders for the construction of lighthouses and a lightkeeper's cottage on Woody Island was advertised in the Maryborough Chronicle on 26 May 1866.

It is likely that the design for the lighthouses and the original lightkeeper's cottage at North Bluff was prepared by the Office of the Colonial Architect, Charles Tiffin.

Ferguson was employed by Tiffin as a temporary foreman of works from 1864 to 1870, where, in 1867, wrote specifications for and oversaw construction of the lighthouses at Bustard Head and Sandy Cape.

In the Government Gazette in 1867, Portmaster, GP Heath described how the lights operated together in order to guide vessels through Hervey Bay:[1]When entering Hervey's Bay, steer so as to pass one or two miles of the Fairway Buoy, until the two lights on Woody Island are visible, and a brought into line.

Both lights had signal masts and a storage shed was built on the beach at Middle Bluff, on the eastern side of the island, to store kerosene for the lighthouse along with other provisions.

The contract for the cottage for the assistant lightkeeper went to Messrs Pawson and Humberstone for £127, and was built from drawings and specifications prepared by the Office of the Colonial Architect, Charles Tiffin.

[1] The Portmaster proposed a line of telegraph between Woody Island and Maryborough, not only on account of any accident which might happen to the lights or lightkeeper, and as an instalment of the line which must eventually be carried on to Sandy Cape when the lighthouse was established there, but as a consequence to vessels arriving in Hervey Bay, or passing through the Great Sandy Strait, and wishing to communicate with Maryborough or any other station without going the thirty miles up the river and back again unnecessarily.

The line crossed underwater from Urangan and was carried on iron poles imported from England up to the Middle Bluff lighthouse.

[1] The first lightkeeper, John Simpson, remained at Woody Island until 1870, when he was transferred to the Sandy Cape Lightstation.

[1] Some maintenance and conservation work has been undertaken in the last few years by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, particularly to the Middle Bluff Lighthouse.

The slope is easy on the landward or western side and falls steeply to seaward, culminating in an abrupt and discontinuous rocky escarpment towards the north which extends for about nine and a half kilometres.

[1] The timber remains of the assistant lightkeeper's residence are located about four hundred metres to the south of the North Bluff light.

[1] About twenty metres to the south of the residence is a large mature tree near a brick-lined depression which housed toilet facilities.

The signal mast is no longer extant with only a circular metal base with the remains of a coat of black pitch in situ.

The remains include the cast iron poles, some with cross arms and glass insulators still intact.

[1] The grave of Sarah May Hardie is located on the eastern side of Woody Island south of the North Bluff light.

It is a concrete headstone with the words "SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF SARAH MAY HARDIE WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE AUG. 8 1883 AGED 19 YEARS "KEPT"," engraved on it.

The copper pipeline is still extant and visible is some places along the track leading to the Middle Bluff lighthouse.

[1] The Woody Island Lighthouses were listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 30 March 2001 having satisfied the following criteria.

Heath was responsible for supervising the opening of 13 new ports, establishing 33 lighthouses, 6 lightships and 150 small lights and marking the inner route through the Barrier Reef.

With further archaeological and historical research and analysis, the place has the potential to reveal important information about Queensland's history and early maritime technology and to reveal further information about infrastructure and other grave sites associated with the lightstation and with the history of Woody Island.

The use of timber framing (usually clad with iron) was even more frequent following the construction of the Lady Elliot Island Lighthouse in 1873.

[1] The Woody Island Lighthouses are especially significant for its strong association with the life of the lightkeepers, their families and maintenance and stores people, who contributed to the continuum of a system dedicated to the single aim of maintaining the navigational aids for a period of nearly 120 years.