Milford Borough was incorporated on December 25, 1874. Prior to that,
Milford was part of Milford Township. Back then, settlers and Native Americans
who lived here enjoyed the blessings of rich forests, beautiful lakes, and the
fresh waters of the Delawware River and the streams that feed into it. We invite you to do the same.
The village was laid out by John Biddis in 1796. He named the streets after his children and family, and the lanes after his favorite fruits and berries. Judge Biddis took his inspiration from the design of Philadelphia, the nation's first capitol. Some say the name Milford came from Milford Haven in Wales, where John Biddis' father William was born. Others say the Wells' mill and the spot where the Delaware was forded resulted in the name Mill-Ford.
Milford is the County Seat of Pike County. The population taken in the 2000 census was 1,104, in an area of 0.5 square mile. Pike County is projected to grow almost 30% by 2010, so Milford will grow in importance as the principle trade and services center to local residents, offering entertainment and community activities.
John Biddis was born in 1749 in the village of Germantown, then some ten miles northwest of Philadelphia. His father, William, was a Welsh immigrant shoemaker, and his mother, Katherine, was the daughter of John Lensen of Krefeld, Germany, one of the original settlers of Germantown. Biddis started out in life as a “skindresser” – not an unlikely occupation, given his father’s work – and he took as his wife Martha Britton, another resident of Germantown.
He was a man of varied interests, talents, and great ambition, and during the Revolutionary period, he operated the Bonny Jockey Tavern in Chestnut Hill, where he tanned hides, and tinkered with inventions on the side. Upon his invention of a new white lead paint in 1783, he sold the tavern, moved into the city, and opened a paint factory and store just across Vine Street from General Washington’s headquarters. His invention made Biddis something of a celebrity among artists and scene painters in the fledgling Philadelphia theater. In 1787, he became the city’s first wallpaper manufacturer, and four years later received one of the first patents issued by the newly established US Patent Office for inventing a tar to be used in tanning made from gum extracted from the barks of various trees. This patent was signed by President Washington and sent over to the Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson.
In 1793, the yellow fever epidemic ravaged Philadelphia, and many of those who were able left the city. Some took up residence in Germantown, among them President Washington and family (who moved into the home of Isaac Franks, a former colonel in the Continental Army) and the celebrated artist Gilbert Stewart, who lived and worked on the portion of the Biddis family homestead that John had inherited from his father. It was during his residence on the Biddis estate that Stewart painted perhaps his most famous portrait – that of President Washington, which now appears on the $1 bill. (It is likely that Stewart was a patron of Biddis’ Vine Street Store.)
Biddis brought his family from the plague-stricken city to Wells Ferry (as Milford was then called), where he bought a huge tract of land and built a cottage. Immediately, Biddis divided up this land into some 530 lots on streets and service alleys reminiscent of Philadelphia, and devised a scheme to market them, which would later be widely advertised in the city. He called the village he laid out “Milford.” As an enticement to would-be investors, he offered two acres outside of town for every lot purchased in town, and also proposed to erect in his envisioned “future seat of justice” an extensive manufactory for paper and pasteboard on the Sawkill. This plant (located on the site of the current Upper Mill) would become the first in the United States to use wood pulp in paper manufacture (heretofore, the pulp of rags had been used), and in 1794, Biddis received a second US Patent for this discovery.
In 1795, Biddis returned to Philadelphia, continued inventing, and was awarded three more patents. One, an engine that enabled wool to be reused, resulted in his building a second mill in Milford, adjacent to his paper mill. Another, using potato starch to make it possible to print in colors on cotton, was heralded as one of the six
his days, Biddis was connected to Milford both for business, government and family reasons. Although he had no legal education, he was appointed by the governor to be an Associate Judge of the first courts to be held in these parts. Many of his children took up residence here, and their names – Ann, Catharine, Elizabeth, Sarah, George and John – live on in the names of our streets.
In 1806, Biddis was appointed by Governor McKean to a commission charged with building the first bridge across the Delaware at Milford, and was making plans to sell his various patent rights by lottery when he died.
History
Forest Hall
Built in 1907 in the French Normandy style, Forest Hall was intended by the Pinchot family for use by commercial shops on the first floor, and for classrooms for Yale University's Forest School as well as a meeting place for fraternal organizationson the upper floors.
Columns Museum
On your "must see" list is the Columns Museum, a treasure-trove of local history and lore, and repository of the famouse "Lincoln Flag." This was the flag from the night that President Lincoln was assasinated, and the flag shows blood stains from the President. (Click the video below to see inside!)
Pike County Court House
The Pike County Court House was originally built in 1815. Present courthouse was completed in 1874.
Milford School House
The historic Milford Schoolhouse was built in 1904 from local bluestone, much of it quarried at the Dwarfskill Falls Lodge property on Log Tavern Road. In the mid 1970's, school consolidation forced closure of the building and it was converted into offices and stores. In 2000, the property was purchased by Community Building Projects, LLC, and the new owner undertook an extensive exterior renovation and landscaping.
An interesting side note is that the bell that was originally in this building was moved to Washington and is on exhibit at the federal Department of Education, emblematic of the classic schoolhouse bell that beckoned generations of students.
