During its existence, the Chicago Lighthouse has improved the quality of life for people who are blind or visually impaired and has provided opportunities toward increased independent living.

The Chicago Lighthouse was founded by a group of blind and sighted women volunteers in 1906 and was called the “Improvement Association for the Blind.” Its founding purpose was to integrate people who are blind into society and to provide basic care.

By 1918, The Chicago Lighthouse trained and placed 46 people, both men and women, who were blind or visually impaired in competitive work. Job opportunities included crafting coffin handles and edges, assembling various products such as electrical wires for Edison Appliance Company, and hand weaving baskets, which were later to be sold as gift items in the shops and holiday catalogs of Marshall Field's.

In 1931, The Chicago Lighthouse’s original name, “Improvement Association for the Blind,” is changed to “The Chicago Lighthouse for the Blind.”

In 1955, The Chicago Lighthouse hosted a dedication ceremony of a new building at which Helen Keller was the keynote speaker. Helen Keller was a common visitor to the lighthouse's annual dinners during the 1940s and 1950s.

The Chicago Lighthouse Low Vision Clinic – the first of its kind in the Midwest and the second in the nation – was formally established in 1957, involving both the Illinois Optometric Association and the Chicago Ophthalmological Society, to provide low vision services for people whose vision cannot be improved with standard corrective lenses.

The agency officially changed its name from “The Chicago Lighthouse for the Blind” to “The Chicago Lighthouse for People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired” in 1999.

Chicago Lighthouse Industries is a manufacturing facility that employs people who are blind or visually impaired. It has grown from a workshop environment in the early years to a professional manufacturer in the last three decennia.

The Chicago Lighthouse was awarded a contract with the Federal Government in 1977 to produce wall clocks. A year later, Chicago Lighthouse Industries was officially initiated. The wall clocks are sold to several departments of the Federal Government, including the Department of Defense, and to and through various commercial entities.

On February 2, 2005, The Chicago Lighthouse was featured on the front page of The Wall Street Journal. The article by Michael J. McCarthy covered how the Lighthouse Industries was coping with competition from foreign countries like China.