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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. Hangar C will also be open during these hours.

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. Active duty military with CAC cards may come onto the station to visit the lighthouse, but cannot escort non-badged visitors without prior approval of SLD 45. Unlike most other military installations, a retired military ID will not gain you access to CCSFS. You will have to take the public tour. Please see our Visit page for tour information. So make plans now to come visit us!

CAPE CANAVERAL LIGHTHOUSE VIRTUAL TOUR – created by the University of South Florida Center for Digital Heritage & Geospatial Information

CAPE CANAVERAL LIGHTHOUSE VIDEO

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

The Lighthouse Foundation lost two remarkable supporters recently.

Bob Merrilees passed away on November 18, 2023. Bob was a member of the CCLF for over twenty years and served as President of the CCLF Board of Directors for eight years.

Eric Kucera died at the age of Fifty-three. Eric served on the CCLF Board as Volunteer Coordinator and as Historian.

Our thoughts and prayers are with their families.

The Space Force is holding their 2^nd Annual T-Minus 10-Miler race on Saturday December 9^th, in celebration of the birthday of the Space Force. This is a true 10-mile race that winds through the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, as well as some areas of Kennedy Space Center. The finish line is at the lighthouse. If you want to make some room to enjoy your holiday treats without gaining weight, come out and enjoy the run. https://runspaceforce.com/10-miler/

Check out this video! We celebrated National Lighthouse Day on August 7^th with close to 100 visitors. Lighthouse Day is celebrated Aug. 7 in the United States to commemorate the act of the establishment and support of lighthouses by Congress in 1789. This year, lighthouses around the country participated in a video competition sponsored by the US Lighthouse Society. Check out our entry and see the fun had by all.

On August 18-20 this year, the Kennedy Space Center Amateur Radio Club once again participated in the International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend from inside our museum. This year they were able to take advantage for the first time of having permanent tie-downs for their radio tower in the parking lot between the lighthouse and Hangar C. They made a total of 625 contacts with Amateur Radio operators. Out of these, there were 15 contacts with other lighthouses and 3 lightships. They made contact with 7 Canadians and 41 US States, including all East and West coast seaboard states. We look forward to next year’s event!

The University of South Florida Center for Digital Heritage & Geospatial Information, just completed a virtual tour of the Cape Canaveral Light Station. Many thanks for all their hard work and a great product that helps us share this national resource. Cape Canaveral Lighthouse Virtual Tour

Our 4th Order Fresnel Lens on loan from the Coast Guard is now on display in the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse Museum!

We now have a 4th Order Fresnel lens on loan from the U.S. Coast Guard. This type of lens is significant to the Cape Canaveral lighthouse as it was used twice in its history. During the Civil War, the old Winslow Lewis Lamp was removed from the original brick lighthouse when all lighthouses in the South were ordered to go dark. After the war, a 4th Order Fresnel lens was installed in the brick lighthouse from 1865-1868, when the iron lighthouse was built and began using a 1st Order Fresnel lens. Later in 1893-1894 when the iron lighthouse was dismantled and moved a mile inland due to beach erosion concerns, a skeletal tower was built and used a 4th Order lens until the move was completed. The 4th Order lens now in the museum was made in America circa 1905 by the MacBeth-Evans Glass Company. It’s just under 3-feet tall and likely weighs over 500 lbs. This is definitely worth a special trip to see a Fresnel lens up close.

We had a great time on Saturday, July 15th with our quarterly Members and Brick Holders tour. Over 60 people took advantage of this free opportunity on a beautiful day at the lighthouse. If you’re not yet a member or brick holder, please consider becoming a member or buying a brick before our next quarterly tour so you can take advantage of this special FREE event, only open to those individuals.

Keep Brevard Beautiful partnered with us at the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse for the first ever Adopt-A-Landmark program. This project was awarded the national Community Innovation Award by Keep America Beautiful. Check out the video below to learn more.

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

Please note: the 2nd MOB Tour originally scheduled for 10 Nov has moved to 17 Nov.

The 4th Annual Museums of Brevard Holiday Tour of Historic Homes will take place over the first three weekends of December. This tour showcases the architecture styles of the late 19th century to the mid-20th century in Florida, all decorated for the holidays, with giveaways and treats. Only 150 tickets will be sold. Sales end 1 December. For $70 you can visit all 8 historic homes, including the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse. TICKET SALES HAVE ENDED.

The Museums of Brevard (MOB) is a 501(C)3 nonprofit 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!

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

Message from Our Foundation President

In early 2019 your Cape Canaveral Lighthouse Foundation (CCLF) Board was eagerly awaiting the completion of the first cottage, and at the same time concerned about making it a museum since none of the Board had ever before planned a museum. So, we sought someone who had expertise in that field, and hired Becky Zingarelli to oversee the planning for a museum. One of the first things that was done was to form a Museum Working Team to develop and collect the materials that would be in the museum and how the information would be presented.

Besides Becky, the Museum Working Team consisted of Barbara Moser, Cheryl Bennett, Nancy Garwood, Liz Gravuer, Roger McCormick, Ginny Blaetz, Nancy Watts, Chris Ecker and myself. (If I have overlooked anyone, I apologize. I am currently on vacation, so do not have access to my old notes). The Museum group met weekly from about April to December when it seemed like an impossible task with so much to plan and so little time, but with Becky leading us and keeping us on track, it took shape.

The reason I am writing about the museum is because it has given me a new appreciation for the process; what is involved in the planning and execution. I have also learned that whenever I visit the museum, I don’t try to take it all in at one time. When I visit our museum, I pick a poster or two and read all the information and learn new facts.

For example, why do we say: “without the lighthouse, would we have the Space Center in Brevard County?” In 1946 a committee selected Cape Canaveral as the location which met most of their criteria: good weather, a location where frequent explosions would not be a danger to the local population, and would also provide the best opportunity for the rockets to make it into orbit. Why did Cape Canaveral meet most of the criteria? Read the poster the next time you are in the museum.

Would you like to have been a lighthouse keeper? After reading the poster “Duties of a 19th Century Light-house Keeper” you may change your mind. Today during a hurricane, a lot of people leave the area, seeking a safer place to ride out the storm. However, the light had to stay lit 24 hours a day during hurricanes, so that meant that the keeper had to stay and ride out the storm. On your next visit to the museum, read this poster, and see if you still want to be a keeper.

Having visited all the lighthouse museums in Florida, I think ours is the best with the most information, and this is due to the planning which went into the museum. A big “Thank you” to Becky and the Museum Team for a job well done!

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

Thank you for your help in keeping our light shining into the future.

Ron