Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Milo

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
A−History
History · Milo

Milo dates to 1802, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 80% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Milo Public Library and the Free Will Baptist Church (Former). Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1830.

1802founded
2on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Milo’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Milo began

When was Milo founded?

1802

Milo dates its founding to 1802 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1830.

First census: 381 in 18302020 census: 2,251224 years

How historic is Milo?

A−

More historic than 80% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1914.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Milo’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Milo is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Milo’s overall grade.
Founding era1802, from Wikipedia: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194025.3% of homes (±5.1) · typical ME town 19.1% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register2 listings, 9.2 per 10,000 residents · typical ME town 15.9 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 80%
NewerOlder

Maine towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Maine town has 15.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Milo’s 9.2 sits near the middle of its state (40% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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 (±5.1 points). Two sources give 1802.

Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Milo’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1900 to 1923, drew every building in Milo.Deep rootsEstablished in 1802: 224 years of Milo.
★ What stands out · Every building

Milo, building by building, 1900–1923

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.

Milo fire insurance map, 1900, sheet 11900Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Milo, 1802 to 1980

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1802
    FoundingMilo is established
  3. 1855Born hereWilder Metcalf is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1905In the archiveWest Main Street
  6. 1910In the archiveMilo House
  7. 1911Born hereOswald Tippo is born here
  8. 1914Post officeThe Derby post office opens
  9. 1922BuiltMilo Public Library is built
  10. 1972Born hereLance E. Walker is born here
  11. 1978On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  12. 1980Post officeThe Derby post office closes
The story

How Milo came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Milo.

Read it all →

The community was first known as Township Number 3 in the seventh range north of the Waldo Patent. It was settled by Benjamin Sargent and his son, Theophilus, from Methuen, Massachusetts, on May 2, 1802. On January 21, 1823, it was incorporated as Milo, named after Milo of Croton, a famous athlete from ancient Croton in Magna Graecia, Italy. It would become a trade center, with Trafton's Falls providing water power for early industry. In 1823, Winborn A. Swett built a dam at the 14-foot (4.3 m) river drop and erected the first sawmill. Thomas White soon added a carding and fulling mill. The Joseph Cushing & Company built a woolen textile mill in 1842, but it burned six years later.

ChaptersDerby villageKu Klux Klan2008 fire

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Milo, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1910s5 items
West Main Streetc. 1905West Main StreetPostcardWest Main Street1905West Main StreetPostcardMilo from River1907Milo from RiverPostcardMilo Junction, Maine1908Milo Junction, MainePostcardMilo House1910Milo HousePostcard
1920s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today13 recent
Route 112018Route 11Railroad bridge, Milo, Maine, image 22018Railroad bridge, Milo, Maine, image 2Railroad bridge, Milo, Maine, image 12018Railroad bridge, Milo, Maine, image 1Milo, Maine dam image 22018Milo, Maine dam image 2Milo, Maine dam image 12018Milo, Maine dam image 1Milo Maine bridge and dam image 22018Milo Maine bridge and dam image 2Milo Maine bridge and dam image 12018Milo Maine bridge and dam image 1Excelsior Mill, Milo, Maine image 22018Excelsior Mill, Milo, Maine image 2Excelsior Mill, Milo, Maine image 12018Excelsior Mill, Milo, Maine image 1MiloME PublicLibrary2015MiloME PublicLibraryMiloME HistoricalSocietyBuilding2015MiloME HistoricalSocietyBuildingEta Aquarid Meteor at Dawn - Flickr - ikewinski2014Eta Aquarid Meteor at Dawn - Flickr - ikewinskiTownLineEntering-MiloMEsign2013TownLineEntering-MiloMEsign
On the map

Milo on the map, 1978 to 1988

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Milo. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Milo on the 1978 USGS mapMilo on the 1988 USGS map1978Milo North sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Milo.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

West Main Street
Retake this viewWest Main Street, c. 1905

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Milo’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Milo

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1989
Milo Public Library
Milo Public Library, built 1922Free Will Baptist Church (Former)
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Mid-19th Century1
Late Victorian1
Milo Public LibraryLate 19th and 20th Century Revivals · Built 1922
Free Will Baptist Church (Former)Mid-19th Century

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Milo, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0001850190019502000Peak: 3,000

Between 381 and 3,000 people in every census since 1830.

20 censuses, 1830–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Milo’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Milo

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
O
Oswald TippoBotanist · b. 1911
Lance E. WalkerUnited States federal judge for the District of… · b. 1972
Wilder MetcalfAmerican general and politician · b. 1855
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Another post office, Derby, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Derby
1cemetery inside Milo
Evergreen

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Milo’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewWest Main Street: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Brownville2 historic placesASebec2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMedfordIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Milo’s history

What year was Milo founded?

In 1802, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Milo’s post office opened in 1914, and the census of 1830 counted 381 people here.

How does Milo rank for history?

Milo is more historic than 80% 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.

What is on the National Register in Milo?

Two places: the Milo Public Library (listed 1989) and the Free Will Baptist Church (Former) (2000).

How old are the homes in Milo?

25% of Milo’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.1 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1978.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (18), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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 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.