The
City of Cape Canaveral is located on the Atlantic Ocean
approximately
midpoint between Miami and Jacksonville and is slightly
over 50 miles east
of Orlando. This 1.9 square-mile beach and coastal community
is bounded on
the west by the Banana River, on the north by Port Canaveral,
on the east by
the Atlantic Ocean, and on the south by Cocoa Beach.
Adjacent to the north side of the Port is the John F. Kennedy
Space Center,
NASA. Seven miles to the south of the City is Patrick Air
Force Base. This
strategic Florida location places the City in the center
of America's space
facilities and immediately adjacent to Port Canaveral, the
only deep water
port between Fort Lauderdale and Jacksonville.
This location also means that the community is an integral
part of the
retirement-resort-vacation-recreation complex of the north
beaches area of
Brevard County.
The Cape Canaveral Lighthouse is located on the Cape Canaveral
Air Force
Station and is generally not open for public access. It
can be seen up close
from the NASA tour bus in passing or from the beach in Cape
Canaveral but
you will need binoculars.
The lighthouse construction was completed in 1847. It was
made of brick and
60-feet tall. After many complaints that the light was not
sufficient and
could not be seen, a "new" lighthouse was built
in 1868. Constructed of iron
plates and lined with brick, with a new height of 160-feet.
This is the same
lighthouse in use today.
Shoreline erosion threatened the site of the lighthouse
in the late 1880's.
The lighthouse was moved to it's present location in 1894.
It took 18 months
to complete the move.
The lighthouse is functional today, however, the original
fresnel lens was
replaced with a modern optic in 1993. Cape Canaveral's fresnel
lens is on
display at Ponce DeLeon Inlet Lighthouse & Museum.
As early as the 1920s, vacationing retired Orlando journalist
was
appraising the area that is now the city of Cape Canaveral.
They invested
money in the beach acreage that now encompasses the area
of presidential
named streets. The group of investors decided to call their
development
Journalista in honor of their trade. Journalista is now
officially titled
Avon-by-the-Sea. A seasonal retreat for inland residents
was anticipated to
become a resort area much as Cocoa Beach had developed to
the south, because
of the wooden bridge that connected Merritt Island to the
beaches.
At the same time, fishermen, their families, a few retirees,
and descendants
of Captain Mills Burnham, the original official lighthouse
keeper of the
Cape Canaveral light, resided in the northern part of the
present City. They
owned acreage named Artesia, which occupied the general
area that is now the
Port. More details of the lighthouse history and the early
families follow
in the Cape Canaveral area history.
As the nation was ravaged by the Depression of the late
1920s and 1930s, the
initial investor defaulted on the vacant land platted as
Avon-by-the-Sea,
and their portions of the property were lost. However, R.B.
Brossier's son,
Dickson, returned from World War II and, with his father,
regained
possessions of much of what is now the Avon area.
In order to return to the beach, the Brossier's Orlando
home was sold, debts
were satisfied and, with a remaining $4,500, young Dickson
and his father
succeeded in recovering some of the lost Avon real estate.
Dickson Brossier,
said in 1958, ". . . . . with $4,500 in those day you
could buy a great deal
of property in Avon, which then was but a jungle, inhabited
by wild animals
and mosquitoes."
Dickson based his faith in the future of the beach in the
belief that a port
would be developed and that a direct route would be constructed
between
Orlando and the beaches. Brossier believed that central
Florida beach
visitors could thereby reach ". . . . . one R.B., declared
that his original
ambition as a young man was to build a city at Avon-by-the-Sea,
but fate had
intervened so that, as an older man of 67 years, his last
ambition was to
help create a beautiful city to be known as Cape Canaveral.
Click
here to learn about Port Canaveral to Orlando International
Airport Transportation.
The son, realizing the wisdom of his father's vision and
following his own
forethought for a community, set aside several areas to
be used for the
public good; i.e., land for the Canaveral City Park and
the Cape Canaveral
Volunteer Fire Department. Ultimately, the Brossier vision
was fulfilled
when public interest resulted in formation of a Volunteer
Fire Department
just prior to the incorporation of the City. It followed
that a fire
department building was constructed, using volunteer labor
and donated
building material, propelled by the same civic enthusiasm
that was producing
the plan to incorporate a new city of town.
By 1958 the beach area had grown in population as the Space
Program
flourished. At that time, the Cocoa Beach city limits were
somewhat farther
south and an adjacent city could annex an unincorporated
area without a vote
of the residents. Therefore, property owners were discussion
the feasibility
of forming a new city or a possible annexation by the City
of Cocoa Beach,
northward to the Port. Letters were sent to landowners,
as far south as the
SR 520 Causeway, asking their opinion on this matter. It
was felt that there
were advantages in becoming a city or town but, because
of substantial city
debts and land taxes being collected in Cocoa Beach, most
Cape Canaveral
residents preferred not to become part of the City of Cocoa
Beach.
Homeowners and business people in the Cape Canaveral area
were becoming
concerned about their investment in the community and decided
the time was
right to pursue incorporation to create a city or town of
their own.
|
