Titusville dates to 1796, and 46% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 98% of U.S. towns · #62 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 477 buildings between them. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1887 on, and the census since 1850.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1848.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Titusville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Titusville is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #62 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Titusville’s overall grade.
Pennsylvania towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Pennsylvania town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Titusville’s 921 sits above most of its state (97% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 478 historic buildings outnumber those of 97% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1796.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.1 points).
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Titusville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Titusville, census by census
Peaked at 12,786 in 1890; 5,262 people lived here in 2020.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Titusville’s Wikipedia page.
Every building
Titusville, building by building, 1887–1912
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
The area was first settled in 1796 by Jonathan Titus. Within 14 years, others bought and improved land lying near his, along the banks of what is now Oil Creek. Titus named the village Edinburg(h), but as it grew, the settlers began to call the hamlet Titusville. The village was incorporated as a borough in 1849. It was a slow-growing community until the 1850s, when petroleum was discovered in the region.
Passages that mention Titusville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
history of crawford county, pennsylvania1885 · page 485Read the page →
Read the text
Methodist Church.—Meetings of this denomination were occasionally held in the vicinity of Titusville as early as 1805, and after the village of Titusville had existence a class of Methodists, too feeble numerically to erect a house of worship, met for services in the schoolhouse. In October, 1860, a class of fifteen members, most of whom were women, was reorganized, with James H. Davis as class-leader. Titusville Circuit had been formed in 1857.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
history of crawford county, pennsylvania1885 · page 465Read the page →
Read the text
habitable. The population of Titusville in 1850 was 248; in 1860, 438; in 1870, 8,639; and in 1880, 9,046. The facilities for communication with the outside world are the main line of the Buffalo, New York & Philadelphia Railroad and the Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley & Pittsburgh Railroad, of which Titusville is at present the terminus. Each of these roads has here a large brick passenger depot.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Titusville, 1796 to 1940
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
In 1796, according to Wikidata. Titusville’s post office opened in 1848, and the census of 1850 counted 245 people here.
How does Titusville rank for history?
Titusville is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #62 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. 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.
What is on the National Register in Titusville?
4 listings: 1 building, among them the Titusville City Hall (listed 1975, the first), 2 historic districts, the Titusville Historic District and the Titusville Iron Works Historic District, with 477 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 478 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Titusville?
46% of Titusville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.1 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1944.
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 (9), the Library of Congress (3), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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