Titusville

History

Indigenous peoples had inhabited the area for thousands of years, as shown by discovery in 1982 of the Windover Archeological Site, dating to the early Archaic Period (6000 to 5000 BC). It has been designated as a National Historic Landmark because of the significance of its remains. At the time of European encounter, the area was inhabited by the Ais Indians, who gathered palmetto, cocoplum, and seagrape berries. They fished the Indian River, called the Rio de Ais by Spanish explorers. By 1760, however, the tribe had disappeared due largely to infectious disease, slave raids, and the disruptive effects of rum. The United States acquired Florida from Spain in 1821, and the Seminole Wars delayed settlement of portions of the new territory. A community was originally called Sand Point, and a post office was established in 1859, although it closed a few months later. Henry T. Titus arrived in 1867, intending to build a town on land owned by his wife, Mary Hopkins Titus, daughter of a prominent planter from Darien, Georgia. He laid out roads and in 1870 erected the Titus House, a large, one-story hotel next to a saloon. He also donated land for four churches and a courthouse, the latter an effort to get the town designated as county seat. Local history says that Titus challenged Capt. Clark Rice to a game of dominoes to decide the name of the town. Titus won the game and Sand Point was renamed as Titusville in 1873. The city was incorporated in 1887, the year construction began on St. Gabriel's Episcopal Church, as listed in the 1972 National Register of Historic Places. At one point, Titusville was nicknamed "The City of Churches". The Atlantic Coast, St. Johns & Indian River Railroad reached Titusville in 1885, constructed from Enterprise, Florida. It was connected…

Geography

Titusville is located in the northern half of Brevard County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of . of it is land, and of it (14.26 percent) is water. Titusville is located on the Indian River Lagoon, part of the Intracoastal Waterway. The city is the only place in the world where the endangered Dicerandra thinicola, or "Titusville mint" grows. The fields are along a strip between the Titusville wellfield and Mims. Titusville has a humid subtropical climate, with hot, humid summers and mild winters.

Most-observed species

• White Ibis

  Eudocimus albus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  23,990
• Great Egret

  Ardea alba Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  23,634
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  23,400
• Osprey

  Pandion haliaetus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  23,206
• Great Blue/Cocoi Heron

  Ardea herodias Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  22,865
• Tricolored Heron

  Egretta tricolor (Statius Muller, 1776) · Aves
  21,816
• Anhinga

  Anhinga anhinga (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  21,575
• Boat-tailed Grackle

  Quiscalus major Vieillot, 1819 · Aves
  20,798

Most recent

• M 2.5 — 2026-05-29
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