[2] The tower was built in 1929 by Richter Clyde Perky, a fish lodge owner, to control the mosquito problem in the Lower Keys.

The tower was built from plans purchased from a Charles Campbell of Texas, an early pioneer of bat studies.

According to at least some local folklore, the Skunk ape was responsible for some early damage to the structure and for driving off some of the bats.

The ruins of a fourth Campbell tower, in Temple Terrace, Florida, burned in 1979 and now consists of the concrete base and legs.

The Sugarloaf Bat Tower was toppled over on September 10, 2017, in the devastating winds of Hurricane Irma.