[8] It is on the southeast rim of a 3,300-foot-diameter (1,000 m) submerged circular depression known as Charity Shoal Crater that may be the remnants of a meteorite impact.

The tower originally served Vermilion Light Station in Ohio from 1877 to 1929, and was installed at its current New York location in 1935.

[11] The automated beacon is powered by a solar array, sits at a focal height of 52 feet (16 m), and is visible for nine miles (14 km).

The tower was constructed from recast obsolescent cannon after the Battle of Fort Sumter in the American Civil War.

[1] On July 23, 2008, the Secretary of the Interior identified East Charity Shoal Light as surplus under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000.

[1] In 2009, East Charity Shoal Light was put up for auction[15] and was eventually purchased for $25,501 by Cyrena Nolan of Dallas, Texas on August 27, 2009.