Titusville, Florida

Titusville is a city in and the county seat of Brevard County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 48,789, up from 43,761 at the 2010 census. Titusville is located along the Indian River, west of Merritt Island and Kennedy Space Center, and south-southwest of Canaveral National Seashore. It is a principal city of the Palm Bay–Melbourne–Titusville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.

A secondary, de facto county seat was established beginning in 1989, at Viera, Florida in the geographic center of the county, to better serve the more populous southern portion of the county.

History

thumb|Washington Avenue

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".

thumb|right|Railroad depot

The Atlantic Coast, St. Johns & Indian River Railroad reached Titusville in 1885, constructed from Enterprise, Florida. It was connected by a spur line to the Jacksonville, Tampa & Key West Railroad at Enterprise Junction in present-day DeBary, Florida. Henry Flagler extended his Florida East Coast Railroad south from Daytona, building a station at Titusville in 1892. Many tourists arrived by railroad to enjoy the mild winter climate.

In addition, the railroad was a means to ship area produce to northern markets, and the Indian River area increasingly became an agricultural and shipping center for pineapple and citrus goods. A wooden bridge was built east to Playalinda Beach in 1922.

In October 1918, Titusville officials were the first in the county to order closed all places of assembly, including schools, churches, and movies, to avoid spreading the Spanish flu. Beginning in the late 1950s, the growth of Cape Canaveral and later Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, stimulated growth in the community's economy, population and tourism. The association with the space program led to the city's two nicknames in the 1960s: Space City USA and Miracle City.

Searstown Mall opened in 1966. Miracle City Mall opened in 1968, built on . It had of covered floor space. The jail at the county courthouse became overcrowded by the 1980s. A jailhouse was built in Sharpes in 1986.Computer Shopper was founded in Titusville in 1979 by Glenn Patch, first as a tabloid. It was later expanded as a magazine of over 800 pages per issue. It was published in Titusville until September 1989. Operations were to be moved to New York City in 1989 in a joint venture between Patch Communications of Titusville and Ziff Davis.

In January 2013, the Miracle City Mall closed, a victim of a declining local economy after the termination of the Space Shuttle program in 2012. In addition, county population had moved to the south, and changing shopping habits had adversely affected malls across the country. Because of population decline, the USPS had closed two post offices in Titusville by 2013, and discussed closing a third.

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.

Flora

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.

Climate

Titusville has a humid subtropical climate, with hot, humid summers and mild winters.

Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition

{| class="wikitable"

|+Titusville racial composition<br> (Hispanics excluded from racial categories)<br> (NH = Non-Hispanic)<br>

!Race

!Pop 2010

!Pop 2020

!% 2010

!% 2020

|White (NH)

|33,445

|33,944

|76.43%

|69.57%

|Black or African American (NH)

|5,727

|6,430

|13.09%

|13.18%

|Native American or Alaska Native (NH)

|168

|139

|0.38%

|0.28%

|Asian (NH)

|596

|890

|1.36%

|1.82%

|Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian (NH)

|37

|40

|0.08%

|Some other race (NH)

|69

|239

|0.16%

|0.49%

|Two or more races/Multiracial (NH)

|894

|2,432

|2.04%

|4.98%

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|2,825

|4,675

|6.46%

|9.58%

|Total

|43,761

|48,789

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Titusville had a population of 48,789. The median age was 45.8 years. 19.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 23.5% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 92.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 89.5 males age 18 and over.

There were 21,050 households in Titusville, of which 24.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 39.9% were married-couple households, 20.3% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 32.2% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 32.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. There were 23,433 housing units, of which 10.2% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.6% and the rental vacancy rate was 8.2%.

! Race !! Number !! Percent

| White || 35,389 || 72.5%

| Black or African American || 6,630 || 13.6%

| American Indian and Alaska Native || 189 || 0.4%

| Asian || 903 || 1.9%

| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 41 || 0.1%

| Some other race || 1,230 || 2.5%

| Two or more races || 4,407 || 9.0%

| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 4,675 || 9.6%

2024 estimate

In 2024, the United States Census Bureau estimated that there were 49,888 people, 20,768 households, and 12,590 families living in the city.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 43,761 people, 18,174 households, and 11,508 families residing in the city. In 2010, the median age was 43.4 years. Also, for residents 25 and older in 2010, 89.3% had completed high school, 22.6% had at least a bachelor's degree.

Economy

In 2010, private business was 24.7 percent "other"; 21.5 percent trade, transportation and utilities, 18.1 percent professional and business services; 13.7 percent educational and health services; 12 percent construction; and 10 percent leisure and hospitality. Knight's Armament Company in Titusville is believed to be the state's largest manufacturer of small arms. Parrish Medical Center in Titusville, is the city's largest employer. In October 2013, Barn Light Electric Company opened a manufacturing plant, providing work for at least 60 former NASA workers and men who had completed drug rehabilitation.

Tourism

The city has benefited from tourism associated with the space program, and the TICO Warbird Air Show each March draws about 40,000–50,000 visitors. While from the event, the city gets a noticeable economic effect from bikers on their way to the annual Daytona Beach Bike Week.

Titusville was the site of Tropical Wonderland, a defunct amusement park.

Workforce

In 2024, the average size of Titusville's labor force was 22,650. Of the group, 21,812 were employed and 838 were unemployed, for an unemployment rate of 3.7 percent.

In 2001, 149 permits were issued for $18.6 million worth of property; 453 in 2005 for $65.7 million; 45 in 2010 for $9.5 million.

Government

Titusville is run by a council-manager government. The elected city council serves as the city's legislative branch, while the appointed city manager carries out policies defined by the council. The city is governed according to its charter, adopted on June 3, 1963.

The city has 1.8 police officers per thousand residents which is 52% below average statewide for cities of its size.A 2011 study rated the pension fund for city employees as mediocre or poor.

City council

Titusville's five city council members (one of whom is the mayor) who are elected at-large to four-year, staggered terms. As the city's legislative body, the council determines all municipal policies not explicitly covered by the city charter or state legislation. It adopts ordinances and resolutions in addtion to cote appropriations, approves budgets, determines the tax rate, and appoints citizens to serve on advisory boards and commissions.

The mayor presides over all city council meetings and votes as a council member. The mayor is the recognized head of city government for ceremonial and military law purposes, but has no regular administrative duties. The vice mayor is chosen from among the council members at their annual organizational meeting and takes the mayor's place during absence or disability.

Utilities

As of 2006, the city owned water utility drew about of its water supply from two wellfields tapping a surficial aquifer. A new wellfield drawing per day from the Floridan aquifer was added in 2016. The water department had 22,000 customers in 2010.

Airports

Space Coast Regional Airport (commercial aviation), located just south of the city
Arthur Dunn Airpark (general aviation)

Healthcare

Parrish Medical Center, originally established as North Brevard Hospital in 1958, is the hospital which serves Titusville. A new 371,000-sq.ft., $80 million hospital was completed in 2002.