The Titus family first settled the area in the early 1700s. By the time he died in 1797, Joseph Titus had assembled a family farmstead of almost 300 acres (120 ha), from which he developed the village.[9]
In 1851, the Belvidere-Delaware Railroad opened to Titusville and a station was built in the town. Passenger service ceased at Titusville in April 1952 but passenger trains to other towns continued operating until October 1960. Freight continued to run on this portion of the line until 1976. Track was subsequently removed for the Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park recreational trail in the early 1980s.
Titusville's central feature is a small village that sits on a bluff overlooking a picturesque stretch of the Delaware River, with stairwells connecting the village to private docks on the river. The community is bisected by New Jersey Route 29 (River Road), a busy road that runs along the east side of the Delaware. The Delaware and Raritan feeder canal runs parallel to the river just to the east of the village, which is connected to River Road by several two-lane bridges. A biking/walking trail follows the canal, constructed when the former Belvidere-Delaware Railroad line was removed in the early 1980s. Opposite the canal from the river, extending eastward, are a number of small residential streets, a county park centered about Baldpate Mountain, and the homes ringing the base of the mountain and county park.
Washington Crossing State Park, an 800-acre (320 ha) tract of woods, fields, and streams, borders the community to the north and east. The park covers the gradual slope from Bear Tavern Road down to the Delaware River.[12]
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Titusville CDP has a total area of 0.55 square miles (1.42 km2), of which 0.47 square miles (1.22 km2) are land and 0.08 square miles (0.21 km2), or 15.2%, are water.[1]
Titusville is home to Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., a division of Johnson and Johnson.
^Locality Search, State of New Jersey. Accessed January 7, 2015.
^Boyes, Maria. "From Hollystone to Hopewell, Eco-Tourism and Conservation Comes to Mercer County", Preservation New Jersey. Accessed October 8, 2024. "According to the 2003 Hopewell Township Cultural Resource survey funded by NJSHPO, the manor house and barn are eligible for local, state and national designation because of the association with the Titus family as well as for the architecture of the house and barn. From this site, the family developed Titusville Village taking advantage of both the canal and the railroad along the river, which were integral to the success of Titusville and the Pleasant Valley farming district (a nationally recognized historic district)."
^Scannell's New Jersey's First Citizens and State Guide, p. 518. J. J. Scannell, 1919. Accessed December 7, 2021. "William Hartwell Blackwell - Titusville - Fruitgrower and Assemblyman. Born at Washington's Crossing, N. J., on July 22, 1882; son of Charles E. and Sarah E. (Hartwell) Blackwell."