The Spanish Crown built the lighthouse to help secure its claim over the main island of Culebra.

It is located on Culebrita, a mile-long, half-a-mile-wide key off Culebra, an island-municipality of Puerto Rico.

[2] It was one of the oldest operating lighthouses in the Caribbean until 1975 when the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard closed the facility.

The United States Coast Guard has replaced the lighthouse with a solar powered light beacon.

The Culebra Foundation, starting in 1994, has tried to attract local and federal attention to save the lighthouse, but they have had little success.