Built in 1861, the iron skeletal steel framework was designed to relieve stress caused by high winds.

[20] According to Volume 7 of the U.S. Coast Guard light list, it was visible for a distance of 26 nautical miles (48 km; 30 mi) in clear weather conditions, and had two unevenly spaced eclipses, and two flashes within every 20 second period.

In 2011, the U.S. Coast Guard Local Notice to Mariners reported reduced intensity of the Whitefish Point light from June 7, 2011 until August 16, 2011, when the DCB-224 Series Carlisle & Finch aerobeacon lens was changed to a light-emitting diode (LED) lantern with a reduced range of 15 nautical miles (28 km; 17 mi)[6] as permitted by Coast Guard rules and regulations adopted in 2003 for private aids to navigation.

[22] The aerobeacon lens is stored in a building at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum complex for possible future public display.

[28] The site is a venue for remembrance of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald, and extends back to the 1816 loss of "the very first ship known to sail on Superior, the sixty-foot trading vessel Invincible," which upended in gale force winds and towering waves near there.

"[13] There are critics that claim that the stewardship of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society over this lighthouse caused it to be "overdeveloped.

[35][36] The Whitefish Point Unit of the Seney National Wildlife Refuge[37] provides important migratory bird migration habitat for raptors, waterbirds, and songbirds.

A wooden walkway has been constructed to allow the visitor a chance to venture into the sanctuary area and observe wildlife.

Whitefish Point is a target for migrating birds, including eagles, Northern goshawks, geese, falcons, hawks and owls.

In 2012, for the fourth year in a row after a 23-year absence, piping plovers nested at Whitefish Point, and successfully fledged offspring.