It has been marked with a succession of aids, starting with a can buoy placed in 1869 after a study of erecting a lighthouse on the reef itself found the expense to be too great.

This acetylene-powered lamp was placed on a masonry platform resting on a wood crib; the light was first lit on August 31, 1899.

[2][4] This arrangement proved quickly to be quite problematic; the light was difficult to service and ever-increasing piles of rip-rap were laid about the platform in attempts to curb erosion and storm damage.

Atop this was erected a three-story octagonal brick house with a tower in the center to hold a fourth order Fresnel lens.

[2] By that point large amounts of rip-rap had been dumped around the pier in order to reduce vibration from waves and to limit winter icing of the structure.