Cape Canaveral facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Cape Canaveral |
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| Spanish: Cabo Cañaveral | |
View of Cape Canaveral from space in 1991
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 Location in Florida
Location in the United States
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| Location | Florida, United States |
| Coordinates | 28°28′N 80°32′W / 28.46°N 80.53°W |
| Offshore water bodies | Atlantic Ocean |
| Elevation | 3.1 m (10 ft) |
| Geology | Cape |
Cape Canaveral (which means Spanish: Cabo Cañaveral in Spanish) is a piece of land that sticks out into the Atlantic Ocean in Florida, United States. It's located on Florida's central Atlantic coast. From 1963 to 1973, it was officially called Cape Kennedy.
Cape Canaveral is separated from Merritt Island by the Banana River. This area is famous as the Space Coast because it's home to the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Many U.S. spacecraft have launched from here and from the Kennedy Space Center on nearby Merritt Island.
Other important places on the cape include Port Canaveral, which is one of the busiest cruise ports in the world. You can also find the historic Cape Canaveral Lighthouse here. The city of Cape Canaveral is just south of Port Canaveral. The area also features natural spots like Mosquito Lagoon, the Indian River, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, and Canaveral National Seashore.
Contents
Humans have lived in the Cape Canaveral area for at least 12,000 years.
Early People and Cultures
Around 5000 BC to 2000 BC, people from the Mount Taylor period culture lived here. Later, from 2000 BC to 500 BC, the Orange culture developed. These people were among the first in North America to make pottery. After them came the St. Johns culture, which lasted until Europeans arrived.
When the Spanish first came, the Ais people lived south of Cape Canaveral near the Indian River. The Surruque people lived north of the Cape near the Mosquito Lagoon. The Surruque were friends with the Ais.
Spanish Naming and Shipwrecks
In the early 1500s, Spanish explorers named this area Cabo Cañaveral. The name "Canaveral" means 'reed bed' or 'sugarcane plantation' in Spanish. It's one of the oldest European place names still used in the United States.
Because of strong ocean currents, many ships were wrecked here. This made Cape Canaveral a common landing spot for shipwrecked sailors. Some people even called it "Cape of Currents." The name "Canaveral" appeared on maps by 1564.
European Visitors and Settlers
In the 1500s, English privateer John Hawkins and his journalist John Sparke wrote about landing at Cape Canaveral. French survivors from a colony called Fort Caroline were shipwrecked here in 1565. They built a fort from their ship's wood.
In 1571, Pedro Menéndez was shipwrecked off the coast and met the Ais Indians. Later, in the early 1600s, the Spanish governor of Florida sent a diplomat to the Ais. They made an agreement for the Ais to return shipwrecked sailors in exchange for payment.
The first Cape Canaveral Lighthouse was finished in 1848. It helped warn ships about dangerous coral reefs.
In 1885, a strong hurricane caused a "wall of water" to flood Cape Canaveral. This discouraged people from settling there. The beach near the lighthouse was badly damaged, so the lighthouse had to be moved about 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) inland.
In the 1890s, a gun club called the "Canaveral Club" was started here. Famous visitors like presidents Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison reportedly stayed at the club. The building later fell apart and burned down.
In the 1900s, small towns like Canaveral and Artesia grew up on the cape. It was mostly a farming and fishing area. Some people thought it could become a vacation resort, but the stock market crash of 1929 slowed down its growth.
Construction of Port Canaveral began in 1950 for military and business uses. It was officially opened in 1953. The idea for a deep-water port here was first suggested by the U.S. Navy in 1878, but Congress didn't approve it until 1929. Today, it is the main deep-water port for Central Florida.
Cape Canaveral became a missile test site in 1949. Work began in 1950 to build the first paved road and launch site.
The very first rocket launched from the Cape was a V-2 rocket called Bumper 8. It launched from Launch Complex 3 on July 24, 1950. In 1959, the first successful test of a Titan intercontinental ballistic missile happened here.
NASA used Cape Canaveral for its early space missions. The Project Mercury and Gemini space flights launched from here. Also, Apollo flights that used the Saturn I and Saturn IB rockets launched from Cape Canaveral.
Cape Canaveral was chosen for rocket launches for a few reasons:
- It's close to the equator. Launching eastward from here helps rockets get an extra push from the Earth's spin.
- The area downrange (where rocket parts might fall) is mostly ocean. This is safer in case of accidents.
- Florida's east coast also has good ways to transport rockets and supplies.
In 1999, the telephone area code 321 was given to the Cape Canaveral area. This was a nod to its space history, like a launch countdown.
The local post office was first called "Artesia" from 1893 to 1954. Then it was "Port Canaveral" until 1962. From 1962 to 1963, it was called the City of Cape Canaveral.
In 1963, President Lyndon Johnson decided to rename the area "Cape Kennedy." This was to honor President John F. Kennedy, who had set the goal of landing on the Moon. Kennedy's wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, suggested this after her husband was assassinated in November 1963. The name change became official in December 1963.
However, many people in Florida did not like the new name. In May 1973, the Florida Legislature passed a law to change the name back to Cape Canaveral. This change became official on October 9, 1973. The Kennedy family said they understood the decision. NASA's Kennedy Space Center still keeps the "Kennedy" name.
The Gemini, Apollo, and the first Skylab missions all launched when the area was called Cape Kennedy. The first crewed launch after the name changed back to Cape Canaveral was Skylab 4 in November 1973.
Images for kids
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A section of a map from 1584 showing the name C. de Cañareal
See also
In Spanish: Cabo Cañaveral para niños
