With its steep, nearly 40 metre tall cliffs surrounding the entire island, Bell Island is the largest island in Conception Bay, and is also home to rich iron ore deposits. Although first permanently settled in the  early 1700s, large scale mining operations on the island did not commence until 1895. 

With the growth of the mining industry on Bell Island, the population rose sharply, and so too did the marine traffic that came in to load up on iron ore to be shipped elsewhere. The Dominion Steel Company who operated the mines asked the government in 1939 to establish a lighthouse on the northern tip of the island to serve as a navigational aid to vessels. This initial light station consisted of a fog alarm building, keepers duplex, and a small light tower. This light would serve on through the Second World War, where Bell Island became a prime target for German U-Boats who were seeking to disrupt the allied war effort. During the course of the war, the iron ore pier and 4 merchant vessels were sunk off the island.

After the war, in 1966, the lighthouse was connected by road to the rest of the island and was replaced by a new combination light and fog alarm building standing 9 metres tall. The station was reduced to a one person operation in the 1980s, and the old keepers duplex was demolished. In 2004, erosion along the cliffside was threatening to take the structure out to sea, so the entire complex was relocated nearly 200 metres inland to a safer location where it stands today.