Its purpose was to mark the east side of the entrance to Keppel Bay,[2] on passage to Fitzroy River and Port Alma.

[5] The first lighthouse, constructed in 1873[1] or 1876,[2][6] was the first in Queensland of its design, made of a hardwood frame clad with corrugated iron.

Unlike the other seven Queensland lighthouse towers of the corrugated iron clad type, it is hexagonal in plan, rather than round.

A gallery and a lantern top the tower, and much like other Queensland lighthouses, it is painted white with a red dome.

[7] It is a 12-metre-high (39 ft),[8] timber framed zinc-annealed,[3] corrugated iron clad tower, with a lantern and a balcony.