Discover Delmarva: Milford Museum
MILFORD, De- The town of Milford is steeped in history and tradition- the Milford Museum prides itself in telling the stories of the past- to the next generation. Museum Director Tom Summers tells us they offer a variety of ways to experience the towns history. “You can see some great things about Delaware’s military past. We have a library here where you can find information about Milford itself. We have an African American section here.”
The history is felt through the stories of the once prominent local businesses that have come and gone but still had a major role in sculpting the town into one of the most desirable locations in the state. “Well Milford is very much a changing community here. According to one survey it’s the fastest growing town in Delaware and we’ve had a couple thousand people move here in the last few years. So we’re always going to be evolving but what we don’t want to do is forget about our history.”
So many new faces remembering the town’s journey to the present is a vital factor to keeping the community close-knit. The museum has an exact flash points in history through their archived collection of the Milford Chronicles. This collection houses the daily newspaper showcasing the evolution of the town, prices, and even how the media landscape changed throughout print.
Tom says this has been a major part of their digital programming they offer through the museum as well. “Well we have a monthly feature called This Month in Milford History. And it’s based on articles you can find in the Milford Chronicles which was a newspaper that existed here for over 100 years.”
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I think the craziest thing about this for me was seeing the prices in the ads!
I wish we had grocery prices like these still but hey-
at least the Tv’s have gotten cheaper- and bigger!
Tom showed us one of their newest artifacts —
A civil war era decorative sword layered with gemstones with local ties
The town continues to grow-
just like it’s history-
but the preservation of the past — whether it’s a random baseball game from the 50’s to the building blocks of the town
There’s no better spot to house these stories into the future.
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For Discover Delmarva at the Milford Museum. Because Local Matters, I’m Jake Grant WMDT.
