Milford, Delaware

Coordinates: 38°54′46″N 75°25′46″W / 38.91278°N 75.42944°W / 38.91278; -75.42944

City of Milford
City
Walnut Street in Milford in 2006
Country	United States
State	Delaware
Counties	Kent and Sussex
Coordinates	38°54′46″N 75°25′46″W / 38.91278°N 75.42944°W / 38.91278; -75.42944
Area	5.6 sq mi (14.5 km2)
- land	5.6 sq mi (15 km2)
- water	0.1 sq mi (0 km2)
Population	9,559 (2010)
Density	1,707 / sq mi (659 / km2)
Settled	1680
- Incorporated	February 5, 1807
Timezone	EST (UTC-5)
- summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP Code	19963
Area code	302
Location of Milford in Delaware
Location of Delaware in the United States
Website: www.cityofmilford.com

A pedestrian boardwalk parallels the Mispillion River in Milford

Walnut Street in Milford in 2006

Milford is a city in Kent and Sussex counties in the U.S. state of Delaware. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 9,559^[1].

The Kent County portion of Milford is part of the Dover Metropolitan Statistical Area, while the Sussex County portion is part of the Seaford Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

Milford is located at 38°54′46″N 75°25′46″W / 38.91278°N 75.42944°W / 38.91278; -75.42944 (38.912840, -75.429327),^[2] along the Mispillion River.^[3]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.6 square miles (15 km²), of which, 5.6 square miles (15 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km²) of it (1.07%) is water.

Sunset over Blair's Pond

History

The Kent County side of Milford was first settled in 1680 by Henry Bowan on what was known as the Saw Mill Range. A century later the Reverend Sydenham Thorne built a dam across the Mispillion River to generate power for his gristmill and sawmill. Around the same time, Joseph Oliver laid out the first city streets and plots nearby on a part of his plantation. Soon a number of homes and businesses appeared along Front Street and Milford was born. The city was incorporated February 5, 1807.

In the 1770s, a ship building industry was already flourishing on the Mispillion River. Shipbuilding continued to be the major industry of Milford through World War I, bringing considerable prosperity to the town. The high point came in 1917 when the four-masted, 174-foot (53 m) long Albert F. Paul was launched from the William G. Abbott shipyard. At one point six shipyards were operating in the downtown area. When the last of the area’s giant white oaks was cut in the 1920s, the shipyards quickly went out of business, although the Mispillion ships sailed on for many years. (The Paul was sunk by a German torpedo in 1942 while sailing from the Bahamas.) The Vineyard shipyard was called into service in both World War I and II to build submarine chasers.

During much of the twentieth century Milford served primarily as the commercial center for much of southern Delaware's large agricultural community.

Seven of Delaware's governors came from Milford: Daniel Rogers (who served 1797-99), Joseph Haslet (1811–14), William Tharp (1847–1851), Peter F. Causey (1855–59), William Burton (1859–63), William T. Watson (1895–97) and Ruth Ann Minner (2001–09).

Downtown Milford Fire

On Friday, May 30, 2003 at approximately 3:00 p.m. a fire started in a second floor apartment next to Wiley Hardware & Appliance on Walnut Street in the historic downtown section of Milford. More than 200 firefighters from Milford, Ellendale, Harrington, Felton, Dover, Smyrna, Houston, Frederica, Slaughter Beach, Bowers Beach, Greenwood, South Bowers, Farmington, Magnolia, Cheswold, Lewes, Georgetown, and Bridgeville in Delaware and Greensboro and Goldsboro in Maryland fought the blaze which destroyed seven businesses, a church, and three apartments, destroying an entire city block in the historic section of town. No one was killed in the blaze, but one civilian and six firefighters were injured.

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1940	4,214		—
1950	5,179		22.9%
1960	5,795		11.9%
1970	5,314		−8.3%
1980	5,356		0.8%
1990	6,040		12.8%
2000	6,732		11.5%
2010	9,559		42.0%

As of the census^[4] of 2000, there were 6,732 people, 2,665 households, and 1,700 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,210.2 people per square mile (467.5/km²). There were 2,897 housing units at an average density of 520.8 per square mile (201.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 67.97% White, 23.26% African American, 0.34% Native American, 1.04% Asian, 0.16% Pacific Islander, 4.25% from other races, and 2.97% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.82% of the population.

There were 2,665 households out of which 32.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.6% were married couples living together, 16.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.2% were non-families. 31.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.03.

In the city the population was spread out with 27.2% under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 18.3% from 45 to 64, and 17.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 86.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $32,525, and the median income for a family was $40,333. Males had a median income of $29,271 versus $23,164 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,181. About 10.4% of families and 14.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.1% of those under age 18 and 12.6% of those age 65 or over.

Crime

The city of Milford has a crime rate higher than the national average in some categories, much higher in rape, assault, and theft, and lower in others.

	Milford	Nation
Murder	0.0	6.9
Forcible Rape	97.22	32.2
Robbery	166.7	195.4
Aggravated Assault	1333.3	340.1
Burglary	1027.8	814.5
Larceny Theft	5500.0	2734.7
Vehicle Theft	291.7	526.5

Formula used for chart: ((Crimes Reported) / (Population)) X 100,000) [1]

Trivia

• John Lofland (1798–1849), widely known as the "Milford Bard", was a prolific and widely read writer of prose, verse and speeches. He grew up and spent much of his life in "The Towers" on North West Front Street.
• Milford hosted farm teams of the New York Giants and Boston Red Sox in the Eastern Shore Baseball League as well as a team known as the Sandpipers.
• On October 11, 1929, JC Penney opened Store #1252 in Milford, which made it a nationwide company with stores in all 48 of the continental states.
• In 1974 a second grade class at the Lulu Ross Elementary School in Milford successfully petitioned the State Legislature to make the ladybug Delaware's official state bug. Starting in April 2004. Downtown Milford, Inc., a local business association, established an annual festival - the Bug & Bud Festival - to celebrate this event and recognize Arbor Day.
• Robert Crumb, a famous American cartoonist, lived in Milford for a few years and attended high school there.
• Chris Short, star baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1960s, was born in Milford.
• Simmie Knox began to teach himself to paint while living in Milford as a young man. He later became the first Afro-American to paint an official presidential portrait - that of President Bill Clinton.

References

1. ^ http://www.stateplanning.delaware.gov/census_data_center/
2. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23. 
3. ^ DeLorme (2004). Maryland Delaware Atlas & Gazetteer. p. 52. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. ISBN 0-89933-279-X.
4. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 

External links

• City of Milford, Delaware
• Downtown Milford, Inc.
• Milford School District