[6] Before this light was constructed, the location was considered to be of vital importance to maritime commerce, and greatly in need of a navigational aid.

[5][14] In 1890 Lorrin A. Thurston, minister of the interior for the kingdom, directed that inquiries be made with a British firm for a lens and other equipment.

[14] The light remained stuck in the planning stage, however, until after annexation, and indeed until 1906, when the United States House of Representatives passed a bill with an appropriation for construction.

The lens featured alternating red and white panels, and had been ordered for installation in the Point Loma lighthouse in California.

[16] Also displayed at the fair was a hyperradiant Fresnel lens – the largest size ever made, "off the chart" of sixth through first Order.

Rather than order a new lens, the huge optic construction – twelve feet tall and with over a thousand prisms – would be used at the new Makapuʻu Point Light.

[17] In addition to being the largest lens in the United States at the time of its construction, this was the second highest focal plane, after Cape Mendocino Light in California, which is at 422 feet (129 m).

[14] Shortly thereafter the lighthouse keeper's quarters were used to house witnesses in the federal tax evasion case of Wilford "Nappy" Pulawa.