It is a small, one-story house with a lantern on top and served primarily as a warning light for naval ships approaching the Washington Navy Yard.

After being dark for more than half a century, Jones Point Light was relit by a private concern in 1995, however, it was eventually put out again after ownership switched from the Daughters of the American Revolution Foundation to the National Park Service.

The lighthouse is immediately north of the confluence of Hunting Creek and the Potomac River.

The 1791-1792 survey of the boundaries of the District of Columbia began at a spot that was then at the tip of a cape at the Point.

In 1980, the lighthouse and the cornerstone were listed in the National Register of Historic Places as reference #80000352.