Lime Point is situated on the northern side of the Golden Gates narrowest point. From this point, a rocky spur, just twenty feet wide, extends roughly 100 feet into the bay. In 1883, a narrow one-story fog signal building and a two-story keepers dwelling were constructed along the spur. The fog signal building was positioned closest to the water, so its two twelve-inch steam whistles, powered by coal-fired boilers, could warn vessels away from the rocky hazard. Water for the keepers and the fog signal was tapped at a nearby spring, piped to the station and stored in a 20,000-gallon tank.

The hungry boilers could consume over seventy-five tons of coal a year, at a rate of 250 pounds per hour when the signal was in operation. In an attempt to save money, the boilers were converted from coal to oil in 1902. The cost of operating the signal for a twenty-four hour period fell from $25.44 to $6.91, and the oil had the added advantage of producing less smoke.

Light stations, which may or may not have included a fog signal, were much more common than fog signal stations. However, fog posed a very serious danger to vessels, especially near San Francisco, and in the late 1800s, fog signal stations were established at Ao Nuevo, Point Montara, Lime Point and Point Knox. A light was added at Ao Nuevo in 1890, and a decade later, it was decided that the keepers at the remaining three fog signal stations should also exhibit a light. Accordingly, on November 26, 1900, lens lanterns were lighted at the three stations, and California now had three new lighthouses. The lens lantern at Lime Point was hung on the wall of the fog signal building at a height of just nineteen feet above the water.

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