Since 1823 when the first lighthouse was constructed the Cape May Light House has served as a guide to navigation, the light is visible to 24 miles into the Atlantic and Delaware Bay. The current tower was built in 1859 and stands 157 feet 6 inches from the base, there are 217 steps to the top.  Visitors can climb to the top for a magnificent view from the watch room gallery.  The tower is open weekends year round and daily from April through November.

The first lighthouse, built in 1823 was 68 feet tall, the second was built in 1847 both of these locations are beyond the current shore line.

The Army Corps of Engineers constructed the Cape May Lighthouse in 1859 with a 1st order Fresnel lens which had sixteen flash panels that revolved producing a flash every 30 seconds. High-quality glass Fresnel lenses were used in lighthouses, where they were "state of the art" in the late 19th and through the middle of the 20th Centuries; most are now retired from service. Lighthouse Fresnel lens systems typically include extra annular prismatic elements, arrayed in faceted domes above and below the central planar Fresnel, in order to catch all light emitted from the light source. The original Fresnel lens is on display at the Cape May County Museum.

More than 100,000 visitors a year come to Cape May Point State Park to see the light house and tour the visitors’ orientation center and Museum Shop. Although the lighthouse is a major attraction of the park many visitors and bird watchers come because the park’s constantly changing shoreline, dunes, freshwater coastal marsh and ponds, forested islands and varied uplands make it a well-known location for viewing the fall and spring bird migration.

Located on the southern tip of New Jersey, Cape May Point State Park is a key site on the NJ Coastal Heritage Trail, with an environmental center that houses a classroom for interpretive programs and a museum on the area's natural and historic features.