The first lighthouse in the Pacific was built on Maui in 1840; the first in Honolulu in 1869. Sea captains and shipping firms pressed for more lighthouses because freight and passengers were endangered when the ships ran aground on reefs and shoals during the night. Kamehameha III in 1851 signed legislation, but it was 1878 before even a lookout station was built on the Diamond Head promontory above a major shipping lane.

The first attendant, John Peterson from Sweden and known as “Lighthouse Charlie,” spotted incoming vessels through a telescope. He was on duty seventeen hours a day, lived in a small cottage nearby, and was paid $50 month. Then a steamship ran aground in 1897. Within two years, a stone tower was completed with a fixed white light connected to the city electric system.

After annexation, the federal government, acquiring the acreage, finally built a new lighthouse in 1918—the 55-foot tower, 147 feet above sea level, with an incandescent light and a 7.300 candlepower lens that could be seen eighteen nautical miles away. Eventually, the lighthouse was placed under the 14th U.S. Coast Guard District, and the keeper's bungalow became the home of the commandant.

The beautiful facility in its striking location is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Fully automatic, its 1,000-watt electric lamp continues to guide ships to O‘ahu and is among the best-known lighthouses in the world. Its story is told by Love Dean in her book The Lighthouses of Hawaii.

By Helen G. Chapin