Milford, Texas
| Milford, Texas | |
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| Town | |
Downtown Milford in 2010
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| Motto: "Small town living with room to grow" | |
 Location of Milford, Texas |
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| Coordinates: 32°7′22″N 96°56′48″W / 32.12278°N 96.94667°WCoordinates: 32°7′22″N 96°56′48″W / 32.12278°N 96.94667°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Texas |
| County | Ellis |
| Area | |
| • Total | 2.47 sq mi (6.39 km2) |
| • Land | 2.46 sq mi (6.38 km2) |
| • Water | 0.008 sq mi (0.02 km2) |
| Elevation | 617 ft (188 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 728 |
| • Density | 296/sq mi (114.2/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 76670 |
| Area code(s) | 972 |
| FIPS code | 48-48408 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1341604 |
| Website | cityofmilfordtx |
Milford is an incorporated rural community located in North Central Texas, in the southwestern corner of Ellis County, in the United States. The population was 728 at the 2010 census.
The town is located 14 miles (23 km) northeast of Hillsboro and 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Waxahachie. The community received media attention due to a Chevron gas pipeline explosion and resulting town evacuation which occurred in 2013.
Milford dates back to the 1850s, when several men from Cherokee County came to the Mill Creek valley and bought land at 50 cents an acre from Ellis County landowner Arvin Wright. Milford was named by William R. Hudson after the factory town of Milford, Massachusetts. During 1853 the first house, a combined residence and general store belonging to William R. Hudson, was built, along with a two-story schoolhouse which served as church and community hall until it burned during the Civil War. In 1854 Wright, Hudson, and J.M. Higgins laid out town lots atop a ridge. In 1857, a gristmill began operation at the community. Milford was incorporated in 1888, with W.R. McDaniel serving as the first mayor. In 1890, the tracks of the Dallas and Waco Railway (later acquired by the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad) reached the community, which became an important shipping point for area cotton farmers.
By 1892 Milford had grown to a population of 800, and had three churches, a bank, a hotel, two cotton gins, and approximately two dozen other businesses, as well as a weekly newspaper. There were now two schools in Milford, Mollie Poe's private Lone Star Institute and the community-financed Milford Academy. In 1902 the Presbyterian Synod of Texas accepted the town's offer to open the Texas Presbyterian College for Girls in Milford, and by 1925 the Dallas-Waco electric interurban railway had reached the town. The town continued to flourish, with the population soaring to 1,200 by 1929, but the population saw a slow decline due to the Great Depression, and the Presbyterian college closed due to lagging enrollment. By 1931 the population of Milford was 747, and would continue to decline as the population reached a low of 490 in 1968. The town would grow once again, and by 1990 the population was back up to 711, before dropping to 685 in 2000.
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