Titusville was founded in 1867 and was incorporated in 1886. By 1900 Titusville's population had grown to 900. Shortly after World War II, the city began a period of tremendous growth, stimulated in large part by the development of the United States space industry complex at Cape Canaveral.
After reviewing a number of sites, the government selected the Cape for its launching program. The Cape was advantageous for a number of reasons that included the range length, the availability of land, and the undeveloped nature of the surrounding area. The first launch occurred in 1950.
In 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) began operations at the Cape. NASA was charged primarily with the launching of communication, meteorological, and scientific satellites. In 1963 construction began on the 52-story Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) The VAB is the largest single story building in the world and was originally built to allow for the vertical assembly of the Saturn V rocket for the Apollo program.
Titusville continues to be one of the best destinations for viewing launches from the Kennedy Space Center. Here at Kirk Point Riverfront Park you can see an unobstructed view of the launches right over the Indian River Lagoon.
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