page_title: Cape Canaveral Light
section_title: Second lighthouse
hierarchical_section_title: Cape Canaveral Light / History / Second lighthouse
caption_attribution_description: English: The old brick lighthouse tower (L) and the newer (R) iron lighthouse tower of Cape Canaveral, Florida, before the latter was moved 1.5 miles inland in 1893.
context_page_description: The Cape Canaveral Light is a historic lighthouse on the east coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The light was established in 1848 to warn ships of the dangerous shoals that lie off its coast. It is located inside the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and managed by the 45th Space Wing of the U.S. Air Force with the assistance of the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse Foundation. It is the only fully operational lighthouse that is owned by the United States Air Force.
  The current 151-foot lighthouse tower was first erected and lit in 1868 then relocated further inland between 1893-1894. It was originally equipped with a first-order Fresnel lens that was automated in 1967 and then retired from the tower in 1993.
context_section_description: In 1860, the government approved the construction of a new lighthouse.  However, the start of the American Civil War stopped the work on the new tower.  The lamps and mechanism of the lighthouse were removed from the tower by Burnham and buried in his orange grove to protect them from Federal raids.
  At the end of the war, construction resumed on the lighthouse. The chosen replacement tower was made with cast iron plate designed so that it can be disassembled and moved to a new location at a minimal cost, in case the encroaching sea started threatening the lighthouse.  The conical tower was lined inside by bricks for stability and insulation. It was situated about 80 to 90 feet (24 to 27 m) from the location of the first tower.  The new all-white lighthouse tower was completed in 1868, receiving a first-order Fresnel lens made by Henry-Lepaute and Company of Paris, France that was first lit on May 10, 1868.
  The lower three levels of the tower served as the living quarters for the keepers and his assistants complete with kitchen, living room and bedrooms.  The tower was designed to withstand flooding from storm surges that accompany strong hurricanes by making the entrance to the tower on the third floor, accessible by an outdoor stairway (the ground level door was later added in the 1930s).  This was tested in 1871 when a strong storm submerged the station.  The lighthouse and its keepers survived but the lamp oil and their drinking water were spoiled by the flood.
  The white lighthouse tower was changed to its signature three black bands and three white bands in 1873, with the lantern room remaining white.
  Soon after, the iron tower became unbearable to the keepers under the Florida sun and humidity.  They built and stayed in makeshift dwellings on the grounds of the lighthouse rather than stay in the oven-like tower.  In 1876, funds in the amount of $12,000 were appropriated to construct permanent dwellings for the keepers.
caption: The old 1848 brick tower next to the 1868 iron tower with a white lantern room, before the latter was moved in 1893
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