33+ Cape Canaveral Facts: History, Rocket Launches And More

Cape Canaveral was renamed Cape Kennedy for almost 10 years, between 1963 and 1973.

This place is located in the Brevard County of Florida and is home to NASA's space missions. In spite of the fact that NASA has occupied much of Cape Canaveral's land, the place has lots to offer.

Cape Canaveral has one of the busiest ports of the nation and deals with tons of cargo annually. There are several important docks as well, one of the most famous ones being Port Canaveral. If you have had the opportunity of traveling through the Caribbean Sea, the chances are that Cape Canaveral was your departure spot.

Of the many things that tourists may want to explore when at Cape Canaveral, the Brevard Museum of Art and Natural History and the Air Force Space and Missile Museum are of paramount importance. These places attract crowds of people who are interested in the extensive research programs taken on by NASA and also allow people to observe specimens that they wouldn't find anywhere else in the world. If learning about space adventures doesn't seem like your cup of tea, you can just as well have some fun on the golf courses or spend some time along the beach areas. Keep reading to know more facts about Cape Canaveral!

Facts About Cape Canaveral

Cape Canaveral is located in the Brevard County of Florida. It is one of the most well-known places on the U.S. map, mainly due to the fact that it is the home to many of NASA's missile launches and other operations.

• The name Cape Canaveral translates to sugarcane plantation or reed plantation.
• Cape Canaveral was a barren land until the end of the Second World War.
• It is separated from Merritt Island by the Banana River.
• Merritt Island is towards the east of Cape Canaveral and is also the site for NASA's many activities.
• Cape Canaveral has many launch pads and cruise terminals.
• Port Canaveral is one of the busiest in the United States of America.
• This port deals with no less than a staggering four million t (3.6 million mt) of cargo on an annual basis.
• This gives us a fairly good idea of how busy Port Canaveral typically is.
• Cape Canaveral came to be recognized as Cape Kennedy for a few years.
• The place was named Cape Kennedy after the death of the former U.S. President, John F. Kennedy.
• This change took place in the year 1963, and the name was changed back to Cape Canaveral in the year 1973.
• Cape Canaveral was first visited by Juan Ponce de Leon in the year 1513.
• It was around the years 1521 and 1525 that the Cape Canaveral area began to be recognized by the Smithsonian Institution.
• It started appearing on maps and was seen by the Spanish explorer named Francisco Gordillo.
• The land juts into the Atlantic Ocean, and its geographical location made it one of the places where sailors would end up once their ships had been wrecked by the coastal dunes of the Canaveral Island.

Rocket Launches At Cape Canaveral

Cape Canaveral is famously called the Space Coast because it is an extensive launch pad for NASA's space operations.

• Cape Canaveral is home to Patrick Air Force Base and Air Force Space Command.
• It was the launch site for the spacecraft that carried Neil Armstrong to the moon!
• Cape Canaveral houses both the station known as the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Kennedy Space Center.
• The Kennedy Space Center is named after the former U.S. President, John F. Kennedy.

Tourism Facts About Cape Canaveral

Cape Canaveral is famous for many reasons and provides many opportunities to those who want to spend some time doing off-beat things in the land, which also serves as a launch site for some of the most extensive space-related research in the history of mankind.

• People often make their way to Cape Canaveral to go to Port Canaveral and get started with their Caribbean adventures.
• Port Canaveral is the main departure port for people who want to head out to the Caribbean Sea.
• Tourists also plan entire two-day trips to the space center.
• A trip to the Air Force Space Command or Patrick Air Force Base can be quite interesting.
• When in the space center, you can even hold rocks from the moon and talk to actual astronauts in order to take in their experiences.
• You can also understand what it is like to be inside a space shuttle in the Apollo launch simulator.
• Since Cape Canaveral is the site for the space program of NASA, being in the area is absolutely thrilling for people who are interested in science and space travel.
• You can also visit the Brevard Museum of History and Natural Science, as well as taking a day off as you go to a golf course.
• But that's not all! There is a golf course in Cape Canaveral in which you can also spot alligators while playing your favorite sport.
• Cape Canaveral is a gateway to the Central Florida theme parks such as Disneyland!
• Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center are two entirely different buildings, and they are located adjacent to each other.
• Cape Canaveral is about a three-hour drive from Miami.

Cape Canaveral's History

Cape Canaveral has a very rich history in spite of the extensive ports, space flights, and the space center that now exists in the area. The small size of the barrier island can be understood as the reason why the place was only seen on maps around the middle of the 16th century.

• The oldest records of Cape Canaveral show that all the areas of northeastern Florida came under the influence of the Mount Taylor culture around the middle Archaic era.
• This era dates back to 5000-2000 BCE.
• During the late Archaic era, Cape Canaveral came under the influence of the Orange culture.
• This period can be understood to be around 2000-500 BCE.
• This culture was also one of the oldest in the history of North America to be familiarized with the concepts of pottery.
• St. Johns culture was prevalent in Cape Canaveral and other parts of Northeast Florida from 500 BC until the advent of the European cultures.
• Cape Canaveral was colonized by the Spanish.
• During the time of Spanish colonization, the area around the Indian River was occupied by the Ais people of the land.
• The Ais people inhabited the northern portions of Cape Canaveral.
• Towards the south, the Surruque people lived around the Mosquito lagoon.
• While we do have some evidence that suggests that the two communities had their own understandings and peace, whether or not the latter understood and spoke the Timucua language or a language related to the Ais people is a matter of speculation.
• It was in the early years of the 16th century that Cape Canaveral started to be recognized in maps, although it was unnamed.
• The first application of the name Cape Canaveral came through the Spanish explorer named Francisco Gordillo.
• Before becoming a large launch pad for many of NASA's space adventures, Cape Canaveral was a simple land that had largely been a fishing community.
• Fishing is still popular in Cape Canaveral due to the cost-effectiveness of the sport.
• The Canaveral Harbor and Port Canaveral also provide extensive opportunities for commerce surrounding such commodities and other food items such as citrus fruits from Central Florida.
• The swift currents along Cape Canaveral were the main reason why sailors kept losing their ships around the region and stumbled across this beautiful stretch of land.
• The Ais people, in the 16th century, eventually started accepting ransoms for the release of such captured sailors.
• In terms of recent history, Cape Canaveral was faced with a hurricane in the year 1885, wherein the ocean waves wreaked havoc.
• The Cape Canaveral Lighthouse is a Florida Heritage Site.
• It is the oldest structure in Cape Canaveral's history that is still standing tall.
• The lighthouse was installed in the year 1848 so that it could alert ships of the coral shoals that surround Cape Canaveral.
• Cape Canaveral city has an area of 2.25 sq mi (5.85 sq km).