That story begins on the water's edge. In February 1639, English settlers led by the Reverend Peter Prudden bought the land the Paugusset called Wepawaug from their chief sachem, Ansantawae, whose bow and arrow still appear on the town seal. The settlers arrived that August, making Milford the sixth-oldest town in Connecticut. A year later, in 1640, William Fowler built a water-powered grist mill by the river — the mill at the ford — and the town took its name. Among the first planters was Robert Treat, who settled here at fifteen, rose to be governor of Connecticut, and later led the group that founded Newark, New Jersey.
The Revolution reached the shore, too. Patriots blockaded the Milford stretch of the Boston Post Road, built Fort Trumbull for defense, and kept a lookout from Liberty Rock in Devon. The hardest story is the gentlest: in the winter of 1777, some two hundred sick American soldiers were put ashore from a British prison ship, and a Milford man named Captain Stephen Stow chose to care for them. He caught the smallpox he was tending and died of it, and the town has remembered him ever since.
Why People Visit Milford
Milford balances a historic green, a legendary island, and miles of easy shoreline. Visitors enjoy simple seaside walks, boardwalks, and small cultural stops between the beaches and the harbor. It is peaceful, family-friendly, and close to nature, with year-round appeal in its parks, paths, and public spaces. History and everyday coastal life sit side by side here, from the long Green and the colonial downtown to the oyster boats and the boardwalk beyond.
