BlockBefore
Decorative drawing: a small American settlement seen from a low hill. Not a photograph of this place.

Milford, Massachusetts

42 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Milford town. It lies in ZIP code area 01757. It stands on Godfrey Brook. The Survey maps it on the Milford quadrangle. 26,971 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 259 feet above sea level.

Milford within Worcester County

Population over time

2 figures

Milford grew from 25,055 to 26,971 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
201025,055
202026,971+1,916 (+8%)

Then and now

1886 to 1989

The same ground, surveyed 103 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Milford, surveyed 1989
Topographic sheet of Milford, surveyed 1886

Topographic sheets covering this place

42 sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires nearby

110 since 2003

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 110 fires within 5 miles of Milford between 2003 and 2020, burning about 200 acres in total. None started naturally. 38 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Arson/incendiarism38
Debris and open burning29
Missing data/not specified/undetermined20
Recreation and ceremony10
Smoking7
Equipment and vehicle use4
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
4 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
28 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBELLINGHAM
27 September 2015Smokingunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBELLINGHAM
27 September 2015Recreation and ceremony1.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBELLINGHAM
25 September 2015Equipment and vehicle use2.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBELLINGHAM
21 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
21 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.4 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
16 September 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Worcester County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 423 shown

Museums hold 423 specimens collected within 10 miles of Milford between 1844 and 1975: 187 Plantae, 132 Animalia, 99 Fungi, 3 Unrecorded, 2 Chromista. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. B. Seymour, A. P. D. Piguet, A. R. Hodgdon; F. L. Steele and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Image SpeciesYear Collected by Where, as recorded
Specimen of Chilonectria coryli (Fuckel) Ellis & Everh.Chilonectria coryli (Fuckel) Ellis & Everh.1896Henderson
Specimen of Coryneum pulvinatum KunzeCoryneum pulvinatum Kunze1897D. Murray
Specimen of Sceptridium dissectum (Spreng.) LyonSceptridium dissectum (Spreng.) Lyon1899H. H. Scudder
A photograph of the species Trichophorum planifolium, not of this specimenTrichophorum planifolium (Spreng.) Palla1844Collector unspecifiedUxbridge
A photograph of the species Carex vesicaria, not of this specimenCarex vesicaria L.1848J. W. Robbins
A photograph of the species Potamogeton epihydrus, not of this specimenPotamogeton epihydrus Raf.1848J. W. RobbinsUxbridge
A photograph of the species Potamogeton bicupulatus, not of this specimenPotamogeton bicupulatus Fernald1854W. J. RobbinsUxbridge
A photograph of the species Carex brevior, not of this specimenCarex brevior (Dewey) Mack.1855J. W. Robbins
A photograph of the species Carex normalis, not of this specimenCarex normalis Mack.1855J. W. Robbins
A photograph of the species Carex siccata, not of this specimenCarex siccata Dewey1855J. W. Robbins
A photograph of the species Carex straminea, not of this specimenCarex straminea Willd. ex Schkuhr1855J. W. Robbins
A photograph of the species Carex vulpinoidea, not of this specimenCarex vulpinoidea Michx.1861not recorded

All 423 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries nearby

10 of 13 shown

The federal mineral resources record lists 13 workings within 5 miles of Milford: 10 past producers, 2 producers, 1 unknown. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Granite. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Barretto Granite CoGranitePast ProducerGranite
Castellucci and SonsGranitePast ProducerGranite
H E FletcherGranitePast ProducerGranite
Milford Pink Granite QuarryGranitePast Producer
Milford QuarryGraniteProducer
Bird PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Finn Brothers Sand and GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Garbarino Sand and Gravel CoSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Holliston PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Lowland PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Worcester County

Storms nearby

20 since 1997

The National Weather Service names Milford in 20 storm reports between 1997 and 2023: 8 hail, 7 thunderstorm wind, 2 flood, 1 heavy rain. The reports record 1 injury. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2009LightningMilford1 hurtA 27 year old man was injured inside his home when lightning struck a tree just outside. Newspaper reports indicate that the man was standing in his doorway when lightning struck the tree about 30 feet away. The man was transported to Milford Regional Medical Center for observation.
September 2008FloodMilford$100,000Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Hanna ranged from three and a half inches to six and a half inches. This resulted in widespread street flooding. Following are a few of the reports. A one hundred foot section of Stonybrook Road in Milford was washed out. Multiple cars were stuck in flood waters under the railroad bridge on Cambridge Street in Worcester. Extensive flooding occurred on Cambridge Street with water up to ten feet at one business. A stream in Westborough extended its banks blocking off a portion of Warren Street.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindMilford$50,000no account filed
June 2010Thunderstorm WindMilford$35,000A utility pole and wires on McGill Lane and multiple trees on East Main Street were downed by thunderstorm winds.
August 2005Thunderstorm WindMilford$15,000no account filed
July 2015Thunderstorm WindMilford$10,000Trees and wires on Main and Hollis Streets were downed by thunderstorm winds.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindSouth Milford$3,000At 1150 AM EST, a tree was down on a car on route 140 in Mendon near Gasco Fuel.
August 2008Thunderstorm WindMilford$3,000Wires on Lawrence Street were downed by thunderstorm winds.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindMilford$1,000In Milford, there was a tree down on power lines on Esther Dr.
September 2019FloodMilford-In Milford, Central Street at South Bow and North Bow Street was closed for a time due to flooding.
September 2018Flash FloodMilford-At 10:44 AM EST, North Bow Street in Milford was reported flooded and impassable.
August 2017HailMilford-At 406 PM EST and 411 PM EST one-inch diameter hail was reported in Milford.
July 2017HailMilford-At Noon EST, one and one-quarter inch diameter hail fell at Milford. One-inch diameter hail fell at Milford at 1157 AM.
August 2014HailMilford-no account filed
August 2014HailMilford-no account filed
August 2014HailMilford-no account filed
May 2009HailMilford-no account filed
June 2002HailMilford-no account filed
February 1999Heavy RainMilford-no account filed
May 1997HailMilford-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Worcester County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Hopedale1.5 miles42
Rocky Hill1.8 miles41
Spindleville1.9 miles50
White City1.9 miles50
South Milford2.6 miles50
Mendon3.0 miles50
North Milford3.2 miles42
Upton5.2 miles42

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on MilfordAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q6851703The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 611362. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.