Built in 1856 to replace a deteriorating 1753 structure, the granite light tower stands 40.9 feet tall, measures 10 feet on each side, and is made of 27 rows of granite blocks weighing 180 tons in all. Its cast iron and steel top section adds a watch room and lantern room rising another 15.3 feet, and the top of the tower stands 85 feet above mean low water. Though square on the outside, the tower is circular inside, lined with brick and fitted with a spiral iron staircase. Over the past 150 years, Beavertail Light has used oil, kerosene, and electricity for illumination, with a variety of light colors and characteristics. From 1856 until 1991 it used a Fresnel lens, a sparkling beehive of glass now housed in the Museum, visible at a range of 15 miles. A rotating beacon emitting a 2.5 million-candlepower beam replaced the Fresnel lens and remains in use. In 2009, a grant from the Champlin Foundations repaired the exterior stonework and restored the watch room, lantern room, iron decks, and railings. Recalled local incidents included a vessel going on the rocks south of the light, with men coming ashore carrying pails of cider and rolling pins from the cargo, and during another severe storm a grounded craft whose crewman reached shore with a heavy sea chest on his back.