Located next to the harbour in Arbroath, the Arbroath Signal Tower Museum highlights the history and culture of the town. Exhibits detail the lives of the fishermen of the area, "Arbroath Smokies" and the story of the building of the famous Bell Rock Lighthouse, designed by noted engineer Robert Stevenson (1772 - 1850). Built in 1813, also by Stevenson, the Signal Tower complex was the shore station of the Bell Rock Lighthouse until 1955 and provided a home to its keepers and their families.
The museum also illustrates the power-looms which once produced canvas from flax in Arbroath, a 1950s classroom, a Victorian lighthouse wife's parlour and a display on the fauna of the sea. A reconstruction of the fishing village of Auchmithie in the late 19th century illustrates the making of 'smokies' along with the smell of the smoke.
The museum also regularly displays temporary exhibitions.