[dubious – discuss][1] The first recorded sighting of this part of Australia was by the Dutch sailor Haevik Claezoon van Hillegom in 1618.

In 1907 a board of enquiry was set up and the captains of numerous coastal vessels were questioned to obtain their views on the best sites to build lighthouses on.

However, the wreck of the SS Mildura off the North West Cape in 1907 led to Vlamingh Head, a site which had been proposed by a number of ships' masters to the Board of Enquiry but had not gained sufficient support.

[3] Construction of the lighthouse started in November 1911, but it was to be delayed by bad drinking water, outbreaks of dysentery among the labourers and the requirement to transport all of the building materials and supplies by sea from Fremantle.

[3] In the Second World War the North West Cape was an important refuelling depot for US Navy ships and an airbase was developed at Learmonth which led to a radar station being built near the lighthouse.