Welcome to the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse

The Cape Canaveral Lighthouse has stood on the Cape for over 150 years. Situated amidst America’s Premier Gateway to Space, the lighthouse is owned by the United States Space Force and maintained as an active aid to navigation by the United States Coast Guard. Visits to the lighthouse, museum, and gift shop are available via prescheduled tours, only. Open House for CCSFS badged personnel occurs every Wednesday from 10:00 – 1:00.

We are open for scheduled tours, but since we are located on an active military installation, you cannot drive your own vehicle onto the facility. Members of the public can only visit by taking a tour, which must be booked at least two days prior, to process through Space Force Security. Unlike most other military installations, even if you have a military ID (active duty or retired), you won’t be able to get onto CCSFS unless you also have a badge specifically for that purpose. You will have to take the public tour. Please see our Visit page for tour information. So make plans now to come visit us!

Check out our brochure.

Click Here for a short Spectrum News Florida on a Tankful segment about the lighthouse.

Click Here for a 12 minute video tour of the lighthouse presented by our Historian, Barbara Moser, produced by the Space Launch Delta 45 Public Affairs Office.

Click here for a 321 Liftoff Podcast about visiting the lighthouse.

Click here for a US Lighthouse Society podcast for the lighthouse. This is an hour long podcast the first half of which is a discussion about Patos Island Light in Washington State. The Cape Canaveral Light discussion is in the 2^nd half.

Latest News

—- ALERT —-

The lighthouse will be closed for tours until Tuesday October 4th due to Hurricane Ian.

We had a great time on Saturday, September 10th with our 3rd quarter Members and Brick Holders free tour. Our 4th quarter tour is coming up on Saturday, December 3rd. If you’re not yet a member or brick holder, please consider becoming a member or buying a brick before our next quarterly tour in December so you can take advantage of this special FREE event, only open to those individuals. The December tour is special since it visits the lighthouse in the late afternoon/early evening, so you’ll get to see the beacon working, as well as the holiday wreath lights!

The Cape Canaveral Lighthouse made #1 on the list of 10 best things to do in Cape Canaveral, Florida! Check it out!

Merritt Island Now magazine published a wonderful follow-up article on our recent Lighthouse Keeper Grave Marker Program. Click here to read it.

If you don’t have the time to take the regular full tour on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays (that includes space history), try our monthly special Lighthouse and Hangar C only tour. You will be able to come just to the lighthouse for a 1+ hour visit. You will also be able to see the tremendous collection of artifacts from the Air Force Space and Missile Museum Annex next door in Hangar C. Click here to book your Lighthouse and Hangar C only tour, or any of Canaveral Tours’ small van tours.

Upcoming Events

A BEACON OF BREVARD HISTORY Fundraising Event

The Cape Canaveral lighthouse has turned 154 years old, and we want to celebrate it with you at the American Muscle Car Museum on Saturday, November 5, 2022, from 6:00 – 8:30. The AMCM is a 123,000 Square foot complex at 3500 Sarno Rd. in Melbourne that houses over 300 American muscle cars ranging from classic 1950s to modern, including rare cars. The complex is very unique and not open to the public so get your tickets soon through Eventbrite.com or email cclighthousefoundation@gmail.com. Enjoy Food, Beer and Wine, a Silent Auction and a Live Auction. Tickets are $100. Come join us to celebrate and support Brevard County’s only lighthouse!

The Museums of Brevard (MOB) is an informal alliance of interested museums and historic sites in Brevard County, Florida (including the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse). Together we: advertise and promote each other’s facilities both individually and jointly; share activity information and coordinate upcoming events; share best practices and lessons learned in museum administration and management, including fundraising, grant writing and collections management; and assist other members with special requests.

Check out the MOB Brochure and see all the sites!

Visit the MOB website for links to every member.

Like the MOB on Facebook and find out all the things happening!

Message from Our Foundation President

We are nearing the end of a long, hot summer with Labor Day just around the corner when we celebrate the backbone of our country, the hardworking people that keep our economy going. At the lighthouse we just completed two major projects: the handrail replacement on the cottage, and the oil house modifications for display of the DCB-224 Aerobeacon. In addition, we won a national innovation award from Keep America Beautiful for our landscaping project which was led by Keep Brevard Beautiful. We are in the final stages of planning for our fundraising event at the American Muscle Car Museum scheduled for November 5th.

The handrails on the Keepers Cottage had deteriorated to the point that they were an eyesore and unsafe. We contracted with Kinley Construction to have them replaced with a synthetic product which should look pristine far into the future. A big thanks to Jim Crisafulli for completing the project so quickly with minimum disruption.

Our old DCB 224 Aerobeacon is now on display in the Oil House. The project was made possible by the our volunteers especially Becky Zingarelli for her coordination with the Space Force, Jim Underwood for his coordination of USCG volunteers who readied the lighthouse for the beacon, and finally our contractor Glenn Clutter of GC Electric who donated the time and materials to complete the upgrade. We now have a professional display and access for visitors into the Oil House. Please make a trek to the lighthouse to see the beacon.

The American Muscle Car Museum, owned by Mark Pieloch, is opening the doors once again for a fund raising event for the Foundation on November 5. Last year we had a tremendous event raising over $25,000. Our theme this year is “A Beacon of Brevard History” which highlights the lighthouse’s importance to the history of the Spacecoast. Tickets are $100 each, and are available through Board members or eventbrite.com or email cclighthousefoundation@gmail.com. The flyer for the event is in the back of the Beacon. We hope to see all of you there for hors d’oeuvres, wine and good times. Let’s make this event even bigger than last year to help keep the light shining.

My wife and I have been working off our bucket list, and went to South Africa on a photo Safari. We saw the lighthouse at Cape Point, the southern most point in Africa which was first lit in May 1, 1860. The lighthouse is located on a bluff 775 ft above sea level and is accessible by a funicular which exits into the original lighthouse keepers cottage. As always, it amazes me how important lighthouses were for shipping and commerce around the world. The lighthouse sections were forged by the Victoria Foundry in London and transported to Cape Point for the installation which began in 1850.

As always, I want to say thank you to our members, to the brick owners, and our sponsors who provide the funding to keep the light shining. I hope each and everyone of you take advantage of the opportunities to visit the lighthouse and museum which continues to evolve and exist due to your generosity. If you are not a member please join and if you are please renew. All of you are key to the mission—”to preserve, protect, promote, and interpret the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse and its historical significance” to others.

Please visit our website https://canaverallight.org for additional information.

Let’s keep the light shining bright. Have fun and be safe.

Larry