Celebrating 100 Years

LOOKING BACK

TITUSVILLE HAS A RICH HISTORY, from our first native inhabitants to early pioneers, through amazing growth and community development, to the space age with Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and the Space Shuttle programs to today’s robust new space age with more launches on the manifest that most of us ever dreamed. Titusville is a community of proud and accomplished citizens with a love of the charm such a magnificent historical place on the planet enjoys.

Legend is that Titusville got its name when Colonel Henry T. Titus won the honor in a domino game against Capt. Clark Rice to determine which player got to name the town.  If Col, Titus had not won that historic game (1873), Titusville might just be called Riceville.


SOME HISTORIC FACTS & LOCAL PLACES.


At 325 South Washington Ave, you can see historic architecture, a building that has held many stories…and businesses…in Titusville.

In 1926, the first floor was occupied by Florida Power & Light Company.  The second floor was occupied by the Veron Hotel and Café.  In the 1950s, it was the location of Sease Electric Company which installed the vintage Hotpoint sign still prominent today.


At 327 South Washington Ave, was The Pritchard Building.  Here Capt. James Pritchard operated James Pritchard & Son Hardware. It’s a short walk down the street to his still famous residence. The Historic Pritchard House is open for tours by appointment (call 321-607-02030).


In 1927, Titusville’s first aviation center opened for use as an emergency landing field for mail services. No airports existed on the east coast between Jacksonville and Miami at the time. Significantly, it was also used for auxiliary pilot training During WWII. This is the location of the present-day Arthur Dunn Airpark now used for skydiving and private aviation.


These stories and historical facts are from the City of Titusville’s Historic Preservation Board 2021, and can be further explored on the City’s website.

100 YEARS OF LEADERS

The Titusville Area Chamber of Commerce was originally formed in 1923. And always along the way, we have found engaged, dedicated leaders to champion small business, community progress and citizen engagement.

Here is a walk back in history to see the champions who served as Chairs of our Board of Directors over the years. Enjoy this trip down memory lane.

1923

Jas. Mitchell

1924

Thomas Seawell

1925

W.G. Warnock

1926

Norris Froscher

1927-1929

George Olmstead

1933

George E. Ford

1934

C.B. Davis

1935

Frank Snell

1936

W.D. Wilson

1937

W.E. Ziegler

1938

M.H. Poe

1939

Dan Burt

1940

L.B. Albritton

1941

M.H. Poe

1942-1943

Roy Roberts Sr.

1944-1945

Walt Meloon

1946

G.M Simmons

1947

Herman Waltwood

1948

Roy Carpenter Sr.

1949

Gus Faulk

1950

J.D. Nash Sr.

1950-1951

Ed Goodwin

1952

Howard G. Forrester

1953

W.D. Bruner

1954

Al Ziegler

1955

Percy Hopkins

1955

Robert Cutter

1956

Ed Willis

1957

Hank Reid

1958-1959

Ed Kittles

1960

C.W. Danenburg

1961

Chuck Morley

1962

Dave Myers

1963

Don Searle

1964

Pat Blumer

1965

Gil Goshorn

1966

Gene Roberts

1967

Gil Goshorn

1968

Frank Vaughn

1969

Jim Mackey

1970

Meredith Eberhart

1971

Dick Miller

1972

Ken Wall

1973

James G. Graham

1974

Ed Smith

1975

Waver Chapman

1976

Roger Peele

1977

Jesse Childre

1978

Jerry Allender

1979

Robert Telfer

1980

Earl Abbott

1981

Bob Hudson

1982

Thomas Berrell

1983

Ron Heimann

1984-1986

Rick Anderau

1987

Michael Reda

1988

Dr. Gary Ostoski

1989 – 1990

James E. Stone

1991

Barbara Kirk

1992

Walt Johnson

1993

J. Wayne Edens

1994

W. Tim Myers

1995

Stan Retz

1996

Rita Barnett

1997

Rick McCotter

1998

Ron Koetter

1999

Conrad Eigenmann

2000

Dr. Albert Koller

2001

Bill Pickens

2002

Alan Boggs

2003

Susan Wells

2004-2005

Carol Tarrell

2006

Scott Carr

2007

Scott Johnson

2008

Natalie Sellers

2009

Janet Cathy

2010

Bart Gaetjens

2011

Micah Loyd

2012-2013

Michael Powell

2014

J.B. Kump

2015

Billy Specht

2016-2017

Carla McRae

2018

Robert Jordan

2019

Matthew Walter

2020-2021

Laura Anne Pray

2022-2023

Edna Wilson

2024

Matthew Morak