The pilot tower, also known as the "White Lighthouse", is one of the first buildings that any traveler sees when entering the port of Ventspils from the sea.
Ventspils' first pilot tower was built in 1897 to provide a home for the port's pilots. Until then, the pilots were based in the Ventspils Castle tower. However, during World War I, in 1915, the tower was destroyed and a temporary tower was built in its place in 1920.
But in 1934, it was decided to build the new tower closer to the seashore in order to increase the observable horizon area. The pilot tower is located in the territory of the Ventspils Freeport at the South Pier between the Fishing Port and the Venta River. The tower was built in a place where the sea had washed it shortly before its construction, so cement pits filled with concrete were used for its foundation. The tower had rooms for pilots and the lighthouse keeper, but on the upper platform there was a pilot's work room, which was illuminated by portholes removed from the icebreaker "Thunder". The tower was equipped with a fog horn motor, a powerful rotating light beam launcher, binoculars and other equipment.
The polygonal 20,4-meter-high tower is built of bricks, but its upper round part is made of reinforced concrete structures.
It is located 22,5 m above sea level and is a uniquely preserved structure on the Courland coast of the Baltic Sea.The pilot tower ceased to fulfill its original functions in the mid-20th century, and was later used by the Hydrometeorological Service. but currently the tower is not in use and is not accessible to visitors.