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B−History
History · Milford

Milford’s post office opened in 1880, and 41% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 52% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1917 on, and the census since 1890.

1880first post office
0on the National Register
41%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Milford’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Milford began

When was Milford founded?

1880

The Milford post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 576 in 18902020 census: 1,431146 years

How historic is Milford?

B−

More historic than 52% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Milford post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Milford’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Milford is more historic than 52% 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.
Founding era1880, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194041.4% of homes (±14.1) · typical UT town 2.8% · U.S. 8.4%ANational RegisterNo listings counted · typical UT town 3.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 52%
NewerOlder

Utah towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Utah town has 3.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Milford’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (18% of Utah 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 D to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±14.1 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.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1890 and 1900, then grew 8-fold.Old housesHalf of Milford’s homes were built before 1951.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Milford’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Milford’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewCCC camp 2530: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Milford, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,8001900192019401960198020002020576 in 1890Low: 176

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1890 and 1900, then grew 8-fold.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

The story

How Milford came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Milford.

Read it all →

Although settlers had established ranches in the area in the 1870s, Milford was not developed until after construction of the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad, which established a station here in 1880. In that year, Arvin Stoddard moved here and surveyed a townsite. Milford is a constructed name, formed from mill and ford.

During the Great Depression, workers from a nearby Civilian Conservation Corps camp constructed a road from Milford to Beaver, to improve connections.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Milford, 1880 to 1958

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Milford post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1910Born hereCharles August Nichols is born here
  5. 1936In the archiveCCC camp 2530
  6. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 1,673
  7. 1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Milford, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s2 items
CCC camp 25301936CCC camp 2530Milford Utah CCC barracks1936Milford Utah CCC barracks
1940s–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
Today16 recent
Milford Utah High School - aerial2025Milford Utah High School - aerialW. Center Street in2017W. Center Street inS. Main Street in2017S. Main Street inCCC barrack at2014CCC barrack atUntitled photo2011Untitled photoStop That Train2011Stop That TrainLepidosaphes ulmi2011Lepidosaphes ulmiGasstation2011GasstationFirery Red2011Firery RedMine^ near Milford, Utah - Flickr - brewbooks2009Mine^ near Milford, Utah - Flickr - brewbooksMilford, Utah and mines nearby - Flickr - brewbooks2009Milford, Utah and mines nearby - Flickr - brewbooksMilford, Utah - Flickr - brewbooks2009Milford, Utah - Flickr - brewbooksUSMC-061012-M-9034L-1872006USMC-061012-M-9034L-187USMC-061012-M-9034L-1812006USMC-061012-M-9034L-181USMC-061012-M-9034L-1012006USMC-061012-M-9034L-101USMC-061012-M-9034L-0862006USMC-061012-M-9034L-086
On the map

Milford on the map, 1958 to 1978

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

Milford on the 1958 USGS mapMilford on the 1978 USGS map1958Milford 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 Milford.

Every building

Milford, building by building, 1917

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 sheet.

Milford fire insurance map, 1917, sheet 11917Sheet 1 of 4
BrickWoodStone

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

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.

CCC camp 2530
Retake this viewCCC camp 2530, 1936

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

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Milford’s history

What year was Milford founded?

The Milford post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Milford rank for history?

Milford is more historic than 52% 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?

41% of Milford’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±14.1 points), against a typical 2.8% for an Utah town; the median home was built in 1951.

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), 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.