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"It's the best view of the Cape," Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
commander Lt. Col. Randall Horn said Monday from atop the 143-feet Cape
Canaveral Lighthouse, which is about 1.5 miles west of the shoreline.
The National Register of Historic Places is expected to include the
lighthouse in its listing of landmarks sometime this year, said Clay
Gordin, chief of environmental planning and conservation at Cape
Canaveral. The listing will ensure the lighthouse is properly maintained
and protected, but military officials said neither is a problem.
The main problem with the lighthouse is accessibility or a lack
thereof. Only a few people - mainly historians, lighthouse fanatics and
top military brass - are privileged enough get inside the 133-year-old
building.
A narrow, circular staircase, with steps no larger than big slices of
pizza, is partially to blame. Officials at Cape Canaveral don't often
let outsiders onto the station in part because of safety concerns.A stop
across the street on NASA's bus tour is about as close as the public
gets to the lighthouse, which is still operating. Someday, if they're
turned into a museum, the first few floors of the lighthouse might be
open to the public on select days, Horn said.
But views from those floors don't measure up to what can be seen from
the top of the lighthouse.
Many of the historic and modern launch pads that run along the coast
are easily seen from the lighthouse's peak. The site of the first rocket
launch, in 1950, is a stone's throw from lighthouse. The shuttle pads,
clearly visible, are about 14 miles away.
"There's 16,000 acres of history here," Horn said, sounding more like
a proud father than a station commander.
An outdoor, iron viewing deck circles the lighthouse and is perched
just below the light. The light is centered around windows that extend
vertically about 15 feet.
The U.S. Coast Guard "operates" the lighthouse, which automatically
turns on at dusk and off at dawn. Horn said the light can be seen from
at least 20 miles away.
Although whale oil and giant wicks have long since been replaced, the
lighthouse's history is apparent.
Much of the original oil house still stands nearby; it emits a
fuel-like smell. The five cottages that surrounded the structure,
serving the families, who worked at the lighthouse, have been torn down,
but nearby gravesites of lighthouse keepers remain.
The architecture is classic - a black and white stripped iron shell
with a red-brick interior that narrows toward the top is designed to
basically hold nothing more than the staircase and the light.
Small rooms designed for sleeping and eating are part of the lower
floors but were never used because of the adjacent cottages.
The lighthouse replaced a 60-foot lighthouse that was built in 1843
and torn down because it was too short, Horn said.
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