Located at the very tip of the Avalon Peninsula, Cape St. Francis was deemed an important site in the 1850s for the construction of a lighthouse in order to guide ships around the tip of the Peninsula and into Conception Bay. It was not until 1876 that the lighthouse would begin construction, and be finished in 1877. The light apparatus was replaced in 1911, and in 1957 the original structure was demolished, and replaced by a keepers duplex with an adjoining concrete fog alarm building topped with a lantern.

In 1997, the keepers duplex was removed and replaced instead with a helicopter pad for ease of access to the light station. The present structure exhibits a flashing white light every 5 seconds, at a focal height of 29 metres, out to a range of 15 nautical miles.