Tilting is noted for the large number of traditional Newfoundland fishing structures and houses, many of which have been restored in recent years.

French explorer Jacques Cartier sailed directly to Notre Dame Bay, in which Fogo Island is located, in 1534.

The style of fishery practised by the French did not require them to have permanent bases on land, but they did use temporary shore stations to process fish.

The French also spent time on shore in order to collect wood and water, to wait out storms, and to repair their fishing craft.

Beginning around the 1720s, English migratory fishing crews began to probe northward from Trinity and Bonavista, and it is at this time that the first settlers probably over-wintered at places like Tilting.

At the time, the Catholic faith was outlawed in England and its colonies, but travelling Irish priests occasionally visited outports like Tilting.

Other early Irish settlers at Tilting were men named Foley, Dwyer, McGrath, Broders, Mahoney, Lane, Reardon, Keefe, Sexton, and Greene.

France's Cove, just inside the entrance to Tilting Harbour, is probably the site of the early French summer fishing operations.

This substantial and rare collection of traditional structures and material culture contributed to Tilting's being designated a Registered Heritage District in 2003 (see below.)

Influenced by the inheritance customs of their homeland, Tilting's residents subdivided the original land lots, developing clusters of extended family neighbourhoods.

They also adapted the Irish tradition of keeping gardens, with those near home more intensively cultivated and those farther away used mainly for hay or crops for winter storage.

Tilting is one of the few rural Newfoundland communities where the full range of the buildings associated with the traditional family-based, inshore fishery can still be experienced.