[2] By 1877, navigational needs near Sauvie Island caused the United States Lighthouse Board to place two small red post lanterns at Warrior Rock.

[4] The structure was designed by Carl Leick and constructed in 1889 as a small, wood-frame building atop a sandstone base.

The fog bell was cast in 1855 at the J. Bernhard & Co. foundry in Philadelphia[8] and first installed at the Cape Disappointment Light at the mouth of the Columbia River, though the noise level of the ocean and winds led to its retirement in 1881[citation needed] for a louder model.

It is now outside the Columbia County Courthouse in St. Helens, close to a half-scale replica of the original Warrior Rock Light without foundation.

[2] The exterior of the site is open to the public, and can be visited by a short boat ride from St. Helens, or a three-mile (5 km) hike from the north end of Reeder Road.