A section of a map from the 1584 edition ofAbraham Ortelius'sTheatrum Orbis Terrarum, Additamentum III showing the nameC. de Cañareal
Humans have occupied the area for at least 12,000 years.[3]
During the middleArchaic period, from 5000BC to 2000 BC, theMount Taylor period culture region covered northeast Florida, including the area around Cape Canaveral. Late in the Archaic period, from 2000 BC to 500 BC, the Mount Taylor culture was succeeded by theOrange culture, which was among the earliest cultures inNorth America to produce pottery. The Orange culture was followed by theSt. Johns culture, from 500 BC until after European contact. The area around the Indian River was in the Indian River variant of the St. Johns culture, with influences from theBelle Glade culture to the south.[4]
In the early 16th century, Cape Canaveral was noted on maps, although without being named. It was named bySpanish explorers in the first half of the 16th century asCabo Cañaveral. The name "Canaveral" (cañaveral inSpanish, meaning 'reed bed' or 'sugarcaneplantation') is the third oldest surviving European place name in the United States.[note 1] The first application of the name, according to theSmithsonian Institution, was from the 1521–1525 explorations of Spanish explorerFrancisco Gordillo.[7] A point of land jutting out into an area of theAtlantic Ocean with swift currents, it became a landing spot for many shipwrecked sailors. An early alternative name was "Cape of Currents". By at least 1564, the name appeared on maps.[7]
English privateerJohn Hawkins and his journalist John Sparke gave an account of their landing at Cape Canaveral in the 16th century.[8] A Presbyterian missionary was wrecked here and lived among the Indians.[9] Other histories tell of French survivors fromJean Ribault's colony atFort Caroline, whose ship theTrinité wrecked on the shores of Cape Canaveral in 1565, and built a fort from its timbers.[10][11]
In December 1571,Pedro Menéndez was wrecked off the Coast of Cape Canaveral and encountered the Ais Indians.[12] From 1605 to 1606, theSpanish Governor of FloridaPedro de Ibarra sentAlvaro Mexia on a diplomatic mission to the Ais Indian nation. The mission was a success; diplomatic ties were made and an agreement for the Ais to receive ransoms for all the shipwrecked sailors they returned.[12]
The firstCape Canaveral Lighthouse was completed in January 1848 to warn ships of the coral shoals off the coast.[13]
The hurricane of August 1885, pushed a "wall of water" over the barrier island (elevation, 3.1 m (10 ft)) devastating Cape Canaveral and adjacent areas. The ocean waves flooded thehomesteaders and discouraged further settlement in the area. The beach near the lighthouse was severely eroded prompting its relocation 1.6 km (0.99 mi) west inland.[14]
The 1890 graduating class ofHarvard University started a gun club called the "Canaveral Club" at the Cape.[note 2] This was founded by C. B. Horton of Boston and George H. Reed. A number of distinguished visitors including presidentsGrover Cleveland andBenjamin Harrison were reported to have stayed here. In the 1920s, the grand building fell into disrepair and later burned to the ground.[15]
In the 20th century, several communities sprang up in Cape Canaveral with names like Canaveral, Canaveral Harbor, Artesia and De Soto Beach. While the area was predominantly a farming and fishing community, some visionaries saw its potential as a resort for vacationers. However, thestock market crash of 1929 hampered its development.[16] In the 1930s, a group of wealthy journalists started a community called "Journalista Beach", now called Avon by the Sea. The Brossier brothers built houses in this area and started a publication entitled theEvening Star Reporter that was the forerunner of theOrlando Sentinel.[17]
Construction ofPort Canaveral for military and commercial purposes was started in July 1950 and dedicated on November 4, 1953.[18]Congress approved the construction of a deep-water port in 1929, half a century after it was first petitioned by theU.S. Navy in 1878. It is now the major deep-water port ofCentral Florida.[19]
Cape Canaveral was chosen for rocket launches to take advantage of the Earth's rotation. The linear velocity of the Earth's surface is greatest towards theequator; the relatively southerly location of the cape allows rockets to take advantage of this by launching eastward, in the same direction as the Earth's rotation. It is also highly desirable to have thedownrange area sparsely populated, in case of accidents; an ocean is ideal for this.[21] The east coast of Florida has logistical advantages over potential competing sites.[18] TheSpaceport Florida Launch Complex 46 of theCape Canaveral Space Force Station is the easternmost near the tip of the cape.[21]
A post office in the area was built and listed in theU.S. Post Office application as "Artesia" and retained this name from 1893 to 1954.[23] It was "Port Canaveral" from 1954 to 1962, and then the City of Cape Canaveral from 1962 to 1963, when a larger post office was built.
In 1963, PresidentLyndon Johnson issued anexecutive order renaming the area "Cape Kennedy", after PresidentJohn F. Kennedy, who had set the goal of landing on theMoon. After Kennedy's assassination in November 1963, his widow,Jacqueline Kennedy, suggested to Johnson that renaming the Cape Canaveral facility would be an appropriate memorial. Johnson recommended the renaming of the entire cape, announced in a televised address on November 28, 1963, six days after the assassination, onThanksgiving evening.[24][25][26][27] Accordingly, Cape Canaveral was officiallyrenamed Cape Kennedy.[21][28] Kennedy's last visit to the space facility was on November 16, 1963, six days before his death;[29][30][31] thefinalMercury mission had concluded six months earlier.
TheGemini,[40]Apollo,[41] and the firstSkylab missions were all launched while the area was named Cape Kennedy.[42] The first crewed launch under the restored name of Cape Canaveral wasSkylab 4, the final Skylab mission, on November 16, 1973.[43][44]
^The 1865Jules Verne novelFrom the Earth to the Moon located its "Baltimore Gun Club" which sent the mission to the Moon about 100 miles away.Mike Gruntman (2004).Blazing the Trail: The Early History Spacecraft and Rocketry. Library of Flight. Reston, Virginia: International Academy of Aeronautics and Astronautics. p. 302.ISBN978-1563477058.
^Milanich, Jerald T. (1994).Archaeology of Precolumbian Florida. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida. pp. 887–95,244–247.ISBN0-8130-1273-2.
^Hann, John H. (2003).Indians of Central and South Florida 1513–1763. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida. p. 6.ISBN0-8130-2645-8.
^Stewart, George R. (1945).Names on the Land: An Historical Account of Place-Naming in the United States. New York: Random House. pp. 11–13.
^Chatelain, Verne E. (1941),The defenses of Spanish Florida: 1565 to 1763, Carnegie Institution of Washington publication, Nr. 511, Carnegie Institution, p. 10,OCLC603544979
^Ranson, Robert (1989),East Coast Florida Memoirs 1837 to 1886 (reprint ed.), Florida Classics Library,ISBN9780912451091
