Its alternating white and red light is visible for 9 nautical miles (17 km; 10 mi).

It included a three-story dwelling, a veranda with boat davits, and a circular parapet.

The white tower raised complaints because it blended in with the background and was hard to see, so the Coast Guard moved it to Great Point Light, Nantucket, as a temporary replacement when that tower was destroyed by a storm in March 1984.

[3] Between October 2015 and May 2016, the brown tower was dismantled and the light was moved about 100 feet (30 m) south of its previous foundation structure.

[4][5] The new light uses LED technology and sits on a steel skeletal tower, atop four piles.