It stands 156 feet (48 m) tall and is located on the Roanoke Sound side of a portion of a peninsula that is the first part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

The 170-foot structure is one of only a dozen remaining tall, brick tower lighthouses in the United States — and one of the few with an original first-order Fresnel lens to cast its light.

Folklore would have you believe it is due to the number of dead sailors washed ashore from wrecked ships along this portion of the East Coast, which has long been known as the "Graveyard of the Atlantic" but that is not true.

[6] The restoration was stopped in spring 2011 after significant new structural integrity issues were found in many of the main support beams under the balcony.

Flooding caused buckling of the floors in the Bodie Island Light Station Double Keepers Quarters.