Originally known as Gage Roads Lighthouse, it provided a leading light for vessels heading to the Port of Fremantle.

Previously shipping had relied on the lighthouses on Rottnest and Arthur Head to navigate to the port.

As an example, the voyage of the Stuttgart would have ended in tragedy had her captain not realised in time that he was not steering for the Arthur Head lighthouse, but a bright light on the Osborne Hotel in Claremont!

There is a widely circulating story that the red and green sector shades were incorrectly installed, that is, in the reverse order.

Drawings from the Public Works Department that pre-date construction show that the sectors were installed as planned.

The lighthouse was officially opened on 23 August 1902 by the Minister for Public Works Hector Cornthwaite Rason.

In 1944 the clockwork mechanism controlling the occulting of the light was replaced, as the original was considered on the verge of failure.