The lighthouse site is at the highest point of the island, on Wadjemup Hill, with the tower base 45 metres (148 ft) above sea level.

Superintendent of Public Works Henry Trigg designed the first lighthouse and laid the foundation stone in January 1842.

Perth builder Bayley Maycock oversaw construction of the tower at a cost of £500 and used labour provided by the prisoners and locally quarried limestone.

[2] Construction seemed to be quite protracted for reasons which are unclear—possibly because of resistance by the Prisoner's Superintendent Henry Vincent, who disliked outside meddling on the island.

Thomas's duties initially included operating a system of signalling using flags and flares to indicate the arrival of ships.

When confirmation of a ship's arrival was received, the lookout man at Arthur Head raised a blue flag for the information of Fremantle residents.

Unusually for the period, as most lighthouse lamps and mechanisms came from England, the machinery for the revolving catoptric light was designed and built in Fremantle.

Assistant Surveyor-General Augustus Gregory designed the mechanism which comprised two sets of three oil-burning lamps, each with a silvered parabolic reflector.

The centre of the light is 197 feet above high water level, and at the height of 18-feet may be seen in clear weather at a distance of 7 leagues.The now demolished lighthouse keeper's quarters and a storeroom were constructed nearby.

[13] The following year, on hearing that a vacancy for the keeper's position had occurred, John Duffield Senior wrote to the Colonial Secretary on 17 January asking that his son Samuel be considered.

Governor Charles Fitzgerald approved Samuel Duffield's appointment as the third Rottnest lighthouse keeper the following day.

The light was described as revolving and flashing for five seconds in every minute, and that it could be seen for 20 nautical miles (37 km; 23 mi) on a clear day at an elevation of 18 feet (5.5 m).

A vessel arriving at Rottnest Island at night, and requiring a pilot, should show her position by lights, blue lights or rockets, or by firing guns, when the lightkeeper will give notice to the pilot, who will board the vessel as quickly as possible.Repairs to the tower were made in 1879 and a new lens from England was ordered the following year.

The clock will run for a period of approximately three hours without rewinding...The optical apparatus consists of eight panels each subtending a horizontal angle of 45 degrees.

In one panel the lower prisms are omitted for convenience in entering the apparatus...The pressure lamp is of the "Chance" pattern, having a capacity of 12 gallons with suitable gearing.

Stone for the new tower was transported to the site from a quarry at Nancy Cove, about 1.6 kilometres (1 mi) south-west, along a tramway built for the task.

[2] At the same ceremony, Premier Forrest said:[14] The lighthouse is not only a light to guide the mariner to our shores but also a magnificent milestone on the road to the progress of the colony ... a symbol to lead the people of the country on to great and noble deeds.The existing lighthouse keeper's house was built at about the same time and the old tower was demolished a short time after the new tower was commissioned.

This was increased to 327000 candles in February 1927 and the current mercury float pedestal and clockwork (now electrified) mechanism was installed in March 1929.

On 12 July 1899 the lighthouse was involved in a major shipwreck event, when a British owned barque City of York was wrecked off a reef to the north of the island.

The ship had sailed from San Francisco with a cargo of timber and was en route to Fremantle when it was seen by the lighthouse keeper at 4:30 p.m. about 30 kilometres (19 mi) distant.

A second Rottnest lighthouse at Bathurst Point was built in 1900 on the north-east of the island partly in response to the incident, as well as other shipping disasters in the area.

There are 155 steps to the top and the tour has views of the coastline around the island and back to the mainland around the Perth metropolitan area.

The lantern is a 3.66 metres (12.0 ft) diameter Chance Brothers device with a 920-millimetre (36 in) focal radius 8-panel catadioptric lens from the same company.