The first European to record Point Arena was Spaniard Bartolomé Ferrer in 1543, who named it Cabo de Fortunas ("cape of fortunes").

in 1775, lieutenant Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra (commander of the schooner Sonora) renamed the cape Punta Delgado ("narrow point") during a royal expedition chartered by the Viceroyalty of New Spain to map the north coast of Alta California.

The brick-and-mortar tower included ornate iron balcony supports and a large keeper residence with enough space to house several families.

The company chose normally built factory smokestacks, which accounts for the final design for the new Point Arena Lighthouse, featuring steel reinforcement rods encased in concrete.

Light was produced by a "Funck" hydraulic oil lamp that needed to be refueled every four hours and whose wicks had to be trimmed regularly.

June 1977 brought the installation of an automated aircraft-type beacon on the balcony tower, and the historic 1st Order Fresnel Lens was discontinued.

In 1984, a nonprofit organization called the Point Arena Lighthouse Keepers acquired the light station as part of a 25-year land lease from the Coast Guard and the Department of Transportation.

Daily visitation, gift store sales, memberships and the rental of the historic keepers' homes on the property as vacation houses all provide income to the group for ongoing preservation, facility upgrades, and educational endeavors.

The lighthouse also appears in the 2014 movie Need for Speed, as the finishing point of the De Leon underground supercar race that forms the climax of the film.