Benjamin Latrobe submitted drawings for these lights before his death in 1820, but the range was not erected until 1822.

Both houses stood in shallow water off North Point, with footbridges connecting them to the shore.

A single keeper served both lights, and he was paid nearly double the usual amount for his services.

The construction of the lights was apparently substandard, and in 1830 John Donahoo was called upon to repair and shore them up.

In the 1850s the Brewerton Channel was constructed, but it headed straight out of the harbor to the mouth of the river.