Titusville is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) in Hopewell Township, Mercer County, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 633. The area includes a post office with its own ZIP Code (08560), several restaurants, gas stations, a firehouse, and a small cluster of homes. Washington Crossing State Park, dedicated to George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River in 1776, is adjacent to the community.

History

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 , from which he developed the village. Titusville is just north of the Johnson Ferry House in adjacent Washington Crossing, the scene of

George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River, which occurred on the night of December 25–26, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War, was the first move in a complex and surprise military maneuver organized by George Washington, t ...

during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. In 1831, the ferry was replaced by the

Washington Crossing Bridge Washington Crossing Bridge (officially the Washington Crossing Toll Supported Bridge) is a truss bridge spanning the Delaware River that connects Washington Crossing, New Jersey, Washington Crossing, Hopewell Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, ...

, linking it with Washington Crossing in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. 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.

Historic district

The Titusville Historic District was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on March 17, 1983, for its significance in architecture, industry, religion, and transportation. It includes 100

contributing buildings In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic dist ...

. With

Geography

Titusville's central feature is a small village that sits on a bluff overlooking a picturesque stretch of the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

, 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 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. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the Titusville CDP has a total area of , of which are land and , or 15.2%, are water. Titusville is home to Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., a division of Johnson and Johnson.

Education

All of Hopewell Township, including Titusville, is served by the Hopewell Valley Regional School District.

Demographics

Titusville first appeared as a

census designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

in the 2020 U.S. Census.

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Titusville include: * William H. Blackwell (1882–1963), fruit farmer and politician * Robyn Jones (born 1985), professional soccer goalkeeper who played two years for the

Philadelphia Independence The Philadelphia Independence was an American professional association football, soccer club that was based in the Philadelphia suburb of Chester, Pennsylvania. The team joined Women's Professional Soccer as an expansion team in 2010 and played ...

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 ...

Robyn Jones
,

Franklin & Marshall College Franklin & Marshall College (F&M) is a private liberal arts college in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1787 as Franklin College and later merged with Marshall College in 1853, it is one of the oldest colleges in the United St ...

. Accessed November 8, 2017. "Hometown: Titusville, NJ; High School: Pennington"

Gallery

File:Feeder Canal and Bridge, Titusville, NJ.jpg, Church Road bridge over the

Delaware and Raritan Canal The Delaware and Raritan Canal (D&R Canal) is a canal in central New Jersey, built in the 1830s, that connects the Delaware River to the Raritan River. It was an efficient and reliable means of transportation of freight between Philadelphia and ...

File:P.R.R. Station and Delaware House Titusville, NJ 1912.jpg, Former Belvidere-Delaware Railroad station

References

External links

First Presbyterian Church of Titusville
{{Authority control Hopewell Township, Mercer County, New Jersey Census-designated places in Mercer County, New Jersey Census-designated places in New Jersey Unincorporated communities in Mercer County, New Jersey Unincorporated communities in New Jersey National Register of Historic Places in Mercer County, New Jersey Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey New Jersey populated places on the Delaware River