From the President

With the advent of the Space Age and the incredible advances in technology that have accompanied these past few years, it is most difficult to imagine the painstaking labor and meticulous attention to time, weather and survival required of the men and women living “the dream” at the lighthouse in 1868. The life of the lightkeeper was demanding in every way. I imagine some smoky residue after a night of burning kerosene in a lantern with a wick that needed to be trimmed so as not to emit the smoke, allowing it to burn brightly behind the 1st Order Fresnel lens that projected its beam far out to sea. The next morning would be met by wiping the crystals and polishing the brass.

Perhaps the above image is not historically accurate, but it conjures up the idea of hard work and getting ready for what comes next; and that is not fantasy. Hence, “polishing the brass” is what we are about as we celebrate the conclusion of the museum development phase and move into its management routine. New tours, a new gift shop, new regular operating hours, new artifacts and displays — all with the goal of enhancing the visitor’s experience at the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse complex