Port Sanilac Light placement and the unique shape were dictated by and created because of budgetary constraints (Congress appropriated only half the money requested). Designed by Eleventh District Engineer Captain Charles E. L. B. Davis, the design has been called "both unique and architecturally significant in its elegance." The tower is white with a red roof. This "handsome" lighthouse shares its design with only one other, Ile Aux Galets, also known as Skilligallee Island Light, on Lake Michigan. The Port Sanilac Light tower is capped with a cast iron lantern room, which still houses a fourth order Fresnel lens manufactured by Barbier and
Port Washington Light was first lit in 1889. This tower was unmanned and was maintained by the keepers of the older light. By 1903 it was clear that only one light was needed, and the old Port Washington Light was discontinued. Keeper Charles Lewis, Jr. retired in 1924 upon the electrification of the pierhead light, but apparently continued to live in the old house. In 1934, however, a new steel tower was installed on the breakwater, and this light required manual maintenance of its foghorns. The old light was remodeled to house the new set of keepers, including the removal of the tower