Meandering in Milford

From Dave Brigham:

In April, I ventured to the Grafton Flea Market, searching for vintage wooden boxes I could use to showcase prints of my photos at arts and crafts events. I had no luck, but did procure three very cool crates not long after at Blue Collar Vintage Salvage, a great place in Leicester, Mass.***

Naturally, prior to my trek to Grafton, I scoped out a place to go backsidin'. That place turned out to be Milford, an old mill town with a population of just over 30,000 located in southeastern Worcester County, about 10 miles north of the Rhode Island border.

After parking in the center of town, along Main Street, I headed east and the first thing that caught my eye was the Milford Opera House.

Opened in 1881, this Victorian Gothic treasure has served many purposes down through the decades: a music hall, a theater, a racquetball club (!) and offices and shops, including a camera store that I will feature below that unfortunately is no longer in business.

I haven't found any information about the use of this place as a racquetball club, save for a few words from MACRIS, written in 1981: "[T]his lovely building is a racquetball club, where many Milfordians spend many happy hours. They can still enjoy the foyer that once part of the music hall, and many people enjoyed it in years gone by."

I passed several old buildings featuring small retailers, barber shops and churches, many catering to the growing Hispanic population (nearly 20% as of 2024). Then I spied a massive municipal building that was built in the middle of one of Milford's population explosions, as new industries took hold.

"The building is located in the center of the business district and is by far the most prominent building in the main street area," MACRIS reports. "The construction of the town hall out of wood and not granite makes it unique to the other town buildings. Milford's pink granite has played an important role nationally as a source of beautiful yet durable building medium. All of the other main public buildings are constructed out of Milford's granite, except for the town Hall (sic). This exception is important, for the building is a fine example of a wooden Italian Renaissance style."

The building rose in 1855. Five years later, "Milford pink granite was discovered, starting a long and successful quarrying industry in town," according to the town's 2025 Comprehensive Plan. "Milford saw the greatest growth in industry and population between 1830 and 1870," the plan indicates. "Between those four decades, the population increased from 1,360 to 9,000 people. Part of this population growth was fueled by the arrival of migrants from Ireland, who found work in the expanding boot and shoe industry as well as the emerging granite quarrying industry."

By the 1920s, the town had 16 quarries operating, with more immigrants arriving, many from Italy. "As the population increased and the town became wealthier, Milford saw a building boom. By the 1870s, the central village had become a distinct commercial district with multistory commercial brick building blocks and diverse establishments such as breweries, bakeries, and banks," the plan continues.

"The Great Depression led to the closure of several industrial businesses in Milford, including the Milford Iron Foundry, various shoe factories, and the quarries," according to the plan. "The population continued to grow, albeit slowly, between 1915 and 1940." During the 1980s, the town's Brazilian population grew.

Now that I've provided a history of the town's industrial and immigration growth, let's back to the buildings.

I doubled back on the opposite side of Main Street after seeing the town hall. I'd spied the old Rosenfeld Garage building as I walked east on Main Street, so I went back for a closer look.

This building on Spruce Street was home to the same business for at least 60 years, based on the "year constructed" date that MACRIS provides (1925), and the web site's 1986 write-up indicating that the garage was being run by the third generation of the family. Under renovation on the day I happened by, the building in more recent years was occupied by Gasco Auto Service, NAPA Auto Parts and Goodyear Tire Center. I'm not sure who the current tenant is.

Walking just a short distance west on Spruce Street, I looked up the hill and saw the magnificent Memorial Hall standing tall and proud along School Street.

Completed in 1884, this Richardsonian Romanesque beauty is currently home to the Milford Historical Museum, which has one of the finest displays of Civil War artifacts in the country, per the town's historical commission. "The large turret on the left of the building houses our large circular staircase made of our own Milford granite and each step is engraved with the name of a major battle of the Civil War and the name of its donner (sic)," according to MACRIS. "There are 23 steps. The large vestibule is made of oak and each side contains a marble plaque inscribed with the names of those who servered (sic)."

"The building was constructed in 1884 to serve multiple purposes: a free public library, meeting hall for the local Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) lodge, and most importantly, a memorial to honor the Civil War soldiers and sailors of Milford and nearby Hopedale," according to this Buildings of New England post.

Heading south-southwest on School Street, I found myself back at the old opera house. I was excited to see a sign on the Pine Street side of the building for a camera shop.

I was sad, however, to learn that about a month after I made this photo, Morin's Studio & Camera Shop closed up after more than 100 years in business.

Across Main Street from the opera house is one of several one-story commercial buildings located downtown.

When I found out on MACRIS that this building -- evidently two buildings stitched into one -- is known as the Blunt Block, I laughed to myself and thought of rap videos I've seen where crews are smoking blunts, aka a cigar that has been hollowed out and packed with weed.

(WARNING: This video is not safe for small pets or young children, nor for work, school or church.)

Then MACRIS tossed me this curious and, evidently, coincidental tidbit: "The earliest records that we have of this building show it being Milford's largest cigar manufactuer (sic)." The company was called Hale's Cigar Factory. The original owner was AJ Blunt, according to MACRIS. How's that for serendipity?

Current tenants include a convenience store, a karate studio and a church.

Further south, on the east side of Main Street, is one of several storefront churches I saw.

Milford Assembly of God is located in what appears to be a former bank, although I've been unable to confirm that. The house of worship, which I believe ministers to a Brazilian immigrant congregation, has been here since at least 2008, per my review of Google Street View.

I continued south on Main Street, then cut up Park Street, past Draper Memorial Park, which is located on land donated in the early years of last century by Susan Preston Draper. The small park features a statue -- fashioned by Lincoln Memorial sculptor Daniel Chester French -- of Gen. William Draper, Susan's husband. I did not make a photo of any of that.

I continued along Main Street, where the rear of an old fire station caught my eye.

I made an image of the front, located along South Main Street, a few minutes later.

"This firehouse was built in 1852 to house the new hook and ladder," according to MACRIS. "This company was call (sic) 'the Excelsior Hook and Ladder Company.'" As often happens when I'm researching my blog posts, I ran into conflicting information about the build date for the South Main Street Fire House. In this Patch article from December 2010, Deputy Fire Chief William Touhey said the station was built in the early 1900s.

""It was put in 'mothballs' around the year 2000," Touhey told Patch. "Then, when we rebuilt the Spruce Street station, it was reactivated until the construction was completed. When that was done, in 2003, the South Main Street station went into 'mothballs' again."

Regardless of when the fire house was erected, the property has sat largely unchanged since the town sold it in 2010. "Until the sale to [Jose] Ferreira, the building served as a storage center for the police and fire departments," the Patch article continues. " The sale was predicated on Ferreira's agreeing to convert the station to a multi-use building, with the bottom floor given over to commercial use, while the upper level would be turned into a housing unit. That plan was abandoned, however, as a result of neighborhood concerns. The major hurdle was the lack of available parking space for a commercial business."

The Patch article indicates that the property eventually was found to be deed-restricted to be only a single-family home. More than a decade and a half later, I'm not clear on whether there are any residents living here.

Across Main Street from the rear of the old fire station is an auto body shop with an eye-catching back entrance.

I'm unsure of the name of this joint; the town's assessor's database says the building dates to around 1900. Most of the cars in the shop's lot were modern; the two below, however, are gorgeous classic American cars.

(Mercury Comet, from the early- to mid-'60s.)

(Ford Ranchero from the early- to mid-'60s.)

At the corner of Main and Taylor streets sits this little building with sad red eyes.

For many years there was a business here called Cats II, which sold "specialty & promotional items," according to a sign that hung there that I saw on Google Street View. The sign below is from the side of the building.

K&S Painting was located here more recently, but I believe the business is no longer located here.

At this point, I turned back north on Main Street. One of the reasons I enjoy exploring old mill towns such as Milford is to see how these former centers of industrial strength are finding ways to grow and thrive after what may have been some lean times. A lot of the new energy in these towns comes from small businesses, many of them started by relatively new immigrants.

One type of business I've noticed in the towns and cities that I explore is tap rooms and affiliated operations. The Rail Trail Flatbread Company, sister to an outfit located in the town of Hudson, offers pizza, burgers and tacos, among other food, and also features 20 beer taps and additional options in cans and bottles. "[O]ur friends brew some really creative craft beers," the owners indicate on the web site.

Rail Trail is located in the Thayer Block, in a space previously occupied by Home National Bank of Milford and a branch of Rockland Trust Bank. This attractive building combines white brick with green marble from Vermont, according to MACRIS. The clock you can see at the right of the photo is "one of the remaining clocks made by the McClintock-Loomis Clock Company or successive company, O.B. McClintock Co., which specialized in sidewalk clocks for banking and financial institutions," according to this Buildings of New England post.

Next, I pointed myself east along Central Street, as I'd spied some old mill buildings.

The front (top) and rear (bottom) of what was originally known as Claflin and Thayer Shoe Factory. Built in 1871, this brick and fake stone (according to MACRIS) building in succeeding years was occupied by the Wilkinson Straw Hat Shop, the Rockingham Hotel and Stone's Furniture Store. In more recent years, as you can see in the second image, it was home to a Taylor Rental franchise.

I have a hard time imagining a former shoe factory being converted to a hotel, what with all the heavy machinery to be removed. MACRIS indicates at that time, the building had what is believed to be Milford's first elevator.

A short distance away is a related building, which, like the one above, dates to 1871.

MACRIS calls this one the Aaron Claflin Shoe Factory Building. Buildings of New England says Claflin and Thayer was "a leading boot and shoe manufacturer" in Milford, while MACRIS indicates this building is the only one on Central Street made from Milford granite, and one of the oldest along this old industrial strip.

The name Claflin and Thayer lives on in a clothing company started by the great-great-great granddaughter of the former boot company's founder. "My dad's great-great-grandfather started the original Claflin, Thayer & Co. in 1830 as a boot and shoe manufacturer in what is now Tribeca [in Manhattan, New York]," Liz Thayer tells a publication called Local Electric in this 2017 article.

While other sources online indicate the company was founded in the 1850s in Milford, I assume this is the same operation. Thayer continues: "The business was a family affair for over a hundred years until it closed down under my great-grandfather's management during the Great Depression. I think it's neat that I have fallen into the same work, so resurrecting the family name seemed like a given to me."

Claflin, Thayer & Co. sells outerwear and leather goods.

I mosied along, stopping to make a photo of the pleasant front of Nelly's Sandwich Shop.

The family-owned business has been making sandwiches and soups since 1997.

In the near distance, I could see what I thought was an old train station. It is indeed exactly that.

Now occupied by Countryside Discount Liquors, the old Milford Railroad Depot is located in a largely industrial area where the old railway right-of-way has been torn up. It was built in 1909 out of local granite, according to this Flickr post, which contradicts the above statement by MACRIS that the old shoe factory is the sole local granite survivor on this street.

The station was originally part of the Milford Branch of the Boston & Albany Railroad, according to this Waymarking post, which also pegs the built date to around 1890. Flip a coin.

"Passenger service remained on this line until 1959," the Waymarking article continues. "Penn Central, which eventually took control of the line, abandoned it in 1972."

My final stop in Milford was directly across my parking spot on Main Street.

The Gillon Block (aka the Ring and Welch Building) was built in 1888. The gorgeous Queen Anne building was erected by Patrick Gillon, who was a significant bottle manufacturer, according to MACRIS. Buildings of New England indicates that Gillon inherited his late-father’s distillery and bottling business.

Current tenants include a realtor and a mobile-phone store, but unfortunately not Manhattann's, which was a bar and restaurant whose sign is still on the building.

That's a wrap on Milford....

***I used those crates on May 31st at the Harvard Square MayFair, which marked the debut of Dave Brigham Photography in the public square. I was very happy to make a few sales and chat with many fairgoers. I will display my prints at other shows in the future, including at the Brighton Bazaar's New Digs: A Market for the Recently Moved at the Charles River Speedway in Brighton on September 5.

Top Champagne House Inspired This Part of Millis, Mass.

From Dave Brigham:

My expedition to Millis, Mass., bubbled up in a roundabout way. There I was, minding my own business, watching the local TV weather report, when the meteorologist zoomed into an area on the map where rain was particularly heavy. In between Medfield and Medway, two towns I'd certainly heard of, was listed "Clicquot."

"What the heck is Clicquot?" I asked myself. Soon enough, I learned that it's a section of the town of Millis, and that the name has an interesting history.

If you're a champagne afficionado like me -- *cough cough* -- you might recognize the name Veuve Clicquot. From Wikipedia: "Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin...is a Champagne house founded in 1772 and based in Reims [France]. It is one of the largest Champagne houses. Madame Clicquot is credited with major breakthroughs, creating the first known vintage champagne in 1810, and inventing the riddling table process to clarify champagne in 1816. In 1818, she invented the first known blended rosé champagne by blending still red and white wines, a process still used by the majority of champagne producers."

So why is a village in this small Norfolk County town named for the bubbly name-checked by rapper Benny Mayne?

If this smokestack ghost sign with missing letters could talk, it would tell you that for most of the 20th century, the Millis-based Clicquot Club Company was one of the nation's largest beverage companies. "[T]he Clicquot Club Co., known initially as the Aqua Rex Bottling Works company, was established on Curve Street in 1881 by Henry Millis and Charles LaCroix using money Millis received from his father, Lansing Millis. In 1885, the town of Millis was named after Lansing, a retired railroad man of considerable means," according to this Milford Daily News article, citing several sources. "The company took its name, which is pronounced 'kleeko,' from a French champagne, according to Hindy Rosenfeld, a collector of Clicquot Club memorabilia who donated her collection to the town shortly before her death in 1996."

From Wikipedia: "In 1881...Henry Millis...made a suggestion to Charles LaCroix, of the LaCroix Fruit Farm, that he call his sparkling cider 'Clicquot' - after the famous French champagne, Veuve Clicquot - and start selling it....The company produced mainly sparkling cider for the first few years but later on Millis would experiment in other flavors as well. The sparkling cider was soon dropped and the company began focusing mainly on ginger ale. During this time the soda company hired a significant amount of the town's residents and would continue to do so for years to come."

For more than 40 years, Clicquot Club was the largest manufacturer of ginger ale in the world. The Millis plant grew to be quite large, and the company ran other operations across the country. I suspect you know what's coming for the company, which was obviously a major employer in town. "When [the company] was purchased by Cott Beverages in 1971, 500 employees produced 240 million cans and 84 million bottles a year," according to the Milford Daily News article. "In 1980, Cott Beverages closed its doors for good."

The plant is used by a variety of companies these days.

Directly behind the old Clicquot Club site is a large, mostly vacant former industrial site.

"In 1889 the town voted to buy a strip of land from Henry L. Millis located at the south side of Curve street," according to MACRIS. "Four stone buildings were built to house the Steel Edge Stamping and Retinning Plant. These buildings were made of stones gathered from the stone walls on the surrounding farms, the largest portion coming from Oak Grove Farm. For many years the plant had a busy life and its products were sent all over the U.S."

In the ensuing decades, a number of manufacturers called the plant home, including Central Stamping Co., American Flax Fibre, Puritan Carbonating Co., United Cork and Seal, Safepack Mills, the Rubberoid Company and lastly, GAF, which manufactured roofing materials here.

These days, all that's left of the once-massive plant is the stone tower seen below.

You can see the Clicquot smokestack from the old plant entrance on Curve Street.

I'm not aware of any redevelopment plans for this site. The town has been studying and surveying residents and looking into options, which would likely include a mix of residential, commercial and office space.

A little west of the old GAF plant is the local American Legion hall, located in a circa-1925 Craftsman-style Bungalow.

"The Millis Post # 208 of the American Legion was organized in 1920," according to MACRIS. "The Post is active in erecting memorials to veterans of foreign wars in Millis."

Close by, on Plain Street, the Millis Wishing Bridge crosses an old railroad right-of-way.

The bridge is fairly new, replacing a span from 1947. The petition to name it the Millis Wishing Bridge was made a few years ago by the Life Experience School, an "alternative day program for individuals with special needs who are dedicating their lives to provide humanitarian services to their community." Unfortunately, the program is no longer in business.

Along Exchange Street, near the intersection with Main Street, I was over the falls about Niagara Hall.

"Niagara Hall was erected in 1879 for the purpose of housing the 'Niagara' fire engine, which remains a cherished relic today," per MACRIS (see photo below for a glimpse of the engine).

I believe this beauty has also served as a police station and town hall down through the years. The Niagara Coffee Haus, located on the second floor, hosts regular folk, rock, blues, jazz and Americana music acts.

I continued west on Main Street, and after passing the town police station, I looked north on Auburn Road, and could tell there were abandoned railroad tracks up ahead. So I ventured forth.

When walking on tracks like these, I always look behind me every few minutes to a) make sure no punks are following me, and b) to keep one step ahead of zombies. These tracks were owned by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad for a long time. Most recently, they were used by the Bay Colony Railroad. There was also commuter train service through Millis until 1967. I believe there was an old train car along a side track here until fairly recently.

Before too long, I ended up at an abandoned manufacturing facility that I figured dated from the 1960s.

And, according to LoopNet, it was built in 1960. Damn, I'm good. I'm not sure what company most recently occupied the site. An application was filed two years ago to construct a solar array here. I'm not sure of the status of that application.

I really wanted to follow the curve of the tracks into the woods, but I headed back toward the center of town.

Along Main Street, I saw St. Thomas Hall.

Built in 1957, the parish hall is affiliated with the St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, which holds worship services a short walk away, on Exchange Street.

Along Exchange Street, I enjoyed the contrast between the sign for a hair salon and the name WINIKER BLOCK carved into the building.

The building dates to the late 1930s or early 1940s.

Continuing north-northeast along Exchange Street, I was rewarded with a building that, while not as photogenic as Niagara Hall, was my favorite of the day.

(The bell seen in the foreground is believed to have been cast in 1845 by George Holbrook, according to this web site.)

Known as the Lansing Millis Memorial Building, after the founding father, this unique, Richardsonian Romanesque building rose in 1886. "At a special town meeting held Oct. 18, 1885, the heirs of Lansing Millis requested permission to erect a building to be known as a memorial to Lansing Millis," according to MACRIS. "A railroad station was to occupy the first story and the second story was to be devoted for the use of a public library and town offices. This received unanimous approval."

I love the combination of stones and shingles, which gives this municipal building a cozy feel. But the perfect touch is the collection of decorative stones around the front and sides of the building. Again, from MACRIS: "In the erection of this building, the outside walls were made of stones and the citizens were invited to contribute unusual stones that they could gather. Many of Mr. Millis's business friends contributed stones as memorials. These stones were marked with the initials of the corporation donating the stone. In the upper half of the tower there are eighteen such stones and in the lower half, nine."

The town offices remained in the Lansing Millis Building until 1998. The building was leased to a private school at some point. In February 2021, the town received a conditions assessment and feasibility study it had commissioned from Spencer, Sullivan & Vogt. The report acknowledged "the Town’s willingness – and in fact, enthusiasm – to revitalize this building, especially given its current state of disrepair."

In the fall of 2022, the Milford Town Meeting considered, among other warrants, one to provide "$2.9 mil or any other amount" to design, upgrade, construct and renovate the building. I'm not sure of the status of that project.

On the grounds of the old train station is a plaque, the likes of which I'd not seen before.

"MILLIS BROTHERS OF THE BRUSH BELLES AND BEAUX RAZOR BURIAL SITE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 1985"

I believe this memorial honors those who went without shaving for some period of time in recognition of the town's 100th birthday. When I was growing up in Simsbury, Connecticut, there was a similar effort whereby men didn't shave leading up to the town's 300th anniversary in 1970. My dad grew a pretty good beard.

Following my trek through Clicquot, I did some MACRIS research and discovered a few other places I wanted to check out. So I returned.

On Myrtle Street, in the Rockville section of town, is yet another fantastic old fire house.

Built in 1924, the station has what MACRIS calls a Folk Victorian look. While there is fire equipment inside, I'm not sure whether it's an active house. It has some cool details.

Along Farm Street, near the intersection with Cedar Street, is the old town pound.

From MACRIS: "The Town Warrant authorized Michael Metcalf's construction on the Town Pound on Farm Street in 1734. The Pound was a holding area for stray animals. Owners paid a fine to the pound keeper when they claimed their animals." I have featured a few other town pounds on the blog, which can be found here and here.

Lastly, I checked out an old railroad trestle spanning the Charles River, connecting Millis and Medfield.

Known as the Charles River Railroad Bridge, this feature dates to 1925.