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Cape Canaveral City Hall FLPhoto: Connor J Williams · CC BY 2.0
D−History
History · Cape Canaveral

Cape Canaveral’s post office opened in 1962

More historic than 3% of U.S. towns · #593 of 638 in Florida. What drives it

Most of Cape Canaveral was built recently: 0.5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1951 on, and the census since 1970.

1962first post office
0on the National Register
0.5%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Cape Canaveral’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Cape Canaveral began

When was Cape Canaveral founded?

1962

The Cape Canaveral post office opened in 1962, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1963.

First census: 4,258 in 19702020 census: 9,97264 years

How historic is Cape Canaveral?

D−

More historic than 3% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Cape Canaveral post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1963.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Cape Canaveral’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cape Canaveral is more historic than 3% of U.S. towns, #593 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cape Canaveral’s overall grade.
Founding era1962, from the first post office: founded 1945 or later, an older era than 2% of U.S. townsD−Homes built before 19400.5% of homes (±0.4) · typical FL town 0.6% · U.S. 8.4%DNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical FL town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 3%
NewerOlder
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 7%

Few Florida towns list much on the Register (a typical Florida town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Cape Canaveral’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (33% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to D. The pre-1940 share (±0.4 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1963 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Cape Canaveral’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages7 hamlets and corners are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cape Canaveral’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cape Canaveral’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewCape Canaveral Rocket Display: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Old corners

Cape Canaveral’s post office has been open since 1962.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Cape Canaveral Trailer VillageCocoa Palms Mobile Home ParkHitching Post Trailer RanchMango Manor Mobile Home ParkOak Manor Mobile Home ParkPort Canaveral Trailer ParkSouthgate Mobile Homes

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Cape Canaveral came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cape Canaveral.

Read it all →

After the establishment of a lighthouse in 1848, a few families moved into the area and a small but stable settlement was born. As the threat of Seminole Indian attacks became increasingly unlikely, other settlers began to move into the area around the Indian River. Post offices and small community stores with postal facilities were established at Canaveral, Canaveral Harbor and Artesia. It is thought the Artesia post office was so named for the ground water of artesian springs that are prevalent in the area.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Cape Canaveral, 1951 to 1999

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1962Post officeThe Cape Canaveral post office opens
  4. 1982Born hereJames Wilson Williams is born here
  5. 1987In the archiveCape Canaveral Rocket Display
  6. 1995In the archiveCape Canaveral Rocket Park
  7. 1999Born hereMason Denaburg is born here
By decade

Cape Canaveral, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1980s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1980s–1990s3 items
Cape Canaveral Rocket Display1987Cape Canaveral Rocket DisplayCape Canaveral Rocket Park1995Cape Canaveral Rocket ParkFirebee Missile Recovered from Ocean1995Firebee Missile Recovered from Ocean
Today9 recent
Port Canaveral ) Bahamas 20122012Port Canaveral ) Bahamas 2012Port Canaveral ) Bahamas 2012 - panoramio (7)2012Port Canaveral ) Bahamas 2012 - panoramio (7)Port Canaveral ) Bahamas 2012 - panoramio (6)2012Port Canaveral ) Bahamas 2012 - panoramio (6)Port Canaveral ) Bahamas 2012 - panoramio (4)2012Port Canaveral ) Bahamas 2012 - panoramio (4)Port Canaveral ) Bahamas 2012 - panoramio (3)2012Port Canaveral ) Bahamas 2012 - panoramio (3)People of the launch2011People of the launchUS Coast Guard vessel in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in April 20062006US Coast Guard vessel in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in …Portul din2004Portul dinFLMap-doton-CapeCanaveral2004FLMap-doton-CapeCanaveral
On the map

Cape Canaveral on the map, 1951 to 1970

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cape Canaveral. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Cape Canaveral on the 1951 USGS mapCape Canaveral on the 1970 USGS map1951Cape Canaveral sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Cape Canaveral.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Cape Canaveral Rocket Display
Retake this viewCape Canaveral Rocket Display, 1987

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Cape Canaveral’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Cape Canaveral, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,0001980200020209,972

Grew from 4,258 people in 1970 to 9,972 in 2020.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cape Canaveral’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Cape Canaveral

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
J
James Wilson WilliamsPhilosophy of science author · b. 1982
M
Mason DenaburgBaseball player · b. 1999
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Cocoa BeachIts storyD

Questions about Cape Canaveral’s history

What year was Cape Canaveral founded?

The Cape Canaveral post office opened in 1962, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1963.

How does Cape Canaveral rank for history?

Cape Canaveral is more historic than 3% of U.S. towns, #593 of 638 in Florida. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Cape Canaveral?

0.5% of Cape Canaveral’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1985.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (12), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.