In 1650s the main defense system of Havana against the potential naval threats, consisted of three fortresses (the Casillo de la Real Fuerza, the Castillo de la Punta and the Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro) and two torreóns (Torreón de la Chorrera and the Torreón de Cojímar). Even so, the western coast outside of the Havana Bay (the coastal region of the current municapility Plaza de la Revolución) was out of the range of the surveillance from the closest fortification due to the topographic characteristics of the terrain.

Considering this a gap in the surveillance sytem, a torreón (large tower for the defense of a fortification or a square) was built at the coast of the Caleta de Juan Guillén (current cove of San Lázaro) that would serve as a link in the chain of fortifications around Havana that were built to protect the city particularly from the Dutch and British warships, as well as from the pirates that were roaming the Caribbean Sea. Specifically, the function of the Torreón de la Caleta was to look out to the horizon (for the candles of navigating ships) and, in the presence of any enemy ship, to warn the nearest fortifications like the Castillo de la Punta and the Torreón de la Chorrera by torches. It would also supervise and protect the transport of the wood from the region of the Almendares river to the Royal Arsenal and would prevent the possible passage of aggressors to the forest in Vedado (Bosque del Vedado del Rey) and Zanja Real (Royal Ditch, the first water channel of Havana).

The Spanish king entrusted the Dutch engineer Marcos Lucio to make changes in the fortification system of Havana, including the construction of a new fortification in the cove, in 1664. The Dutch engineer completed the tower in 1665.

In 1781, when the Real Hospital de San Lázaro, partially dedicated to leper patients, was built very close to the tower, the Torreón de la Caleta started to be called as Torreón de San Lázaro.

In the second half of the 19th century, it lost its character as a lookout due to the construction of the Bateria de la Reina in its neighborhood. In course of time, the cove in front of the tower was filled to construct a coastal road, the Malecón, and in 1916 the tower was incorporated in the park, inaugurated in memory of the Major General Antonio Maceo.

Today, this monument, even it is so small, represents the Municipality of Centro Habana, as a symbol of rebellion and dignity of heroic people. 

The tower is a cylinder of masonry with a diameter of about 4,5 meters. Its walls have a thickness of about 1,3 meters and a height of about 9 meters. It has three levels. On the intermediate level, it has loopholes for rifle shot, oriented in a network, and on the upper level, a parapet with small embrasures. It has a wooden entry door on the ground level.