The Milford post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Driftwood (1833), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 230 in 18702020 census: 1,158186 years
How historic is Milford?
B+
More historic than 69% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Milford post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Milford’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Milford is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Milford’s overall grade.
Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Milford’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Milford’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Peaked at 1,716 in 1980; 1,158 people lived here in 2020.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Milford’s Wikipedia page.
Every building
Milford, building by building, 1893–1912
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.
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The story so far
Milford, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Milford yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Milford is a village in Milford Township, Iroquois County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,158 at the 2020 census. The village's name comes from its location, where the Old Hubbard Trail forded Sugar Creek and where a gristmill stood in 1836 ("the mill at the ford").
Its first post office opened in 1840. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,306 to 1,158 (-11%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Milford, 1833 to 1980
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Milford’s post office has been open since 1840. Another post office, Driftwood, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Driftwood
1833–1840
Milford
1840–today
18301930today
1cemetery inside Milford
Old Milford
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Milford’s history
What year was Milford founded?
The Milford post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Milford rank for history?
Milford is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns. 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.
How old are the homes in Milford?
27% of Milford’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.2 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1964.
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 (5), 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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