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is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States, on the Souhegan River. The population was 13,575 at the 2000 census. It is the retail and manufacturing center of a six-town area known informally as the Souhegan Valley.
The town center of Milford, where over 61% of the population resides, is defined as the Milford census-designated place (CDP), and is located at the junction of New Hampshire routes 13 and 101A.
Milford separated from neighboring Amherst in 1794. Like most towns named Milford in the United States, its name comes from the fact that it grew around a mill built on a ford - in this case on the Souhegan River.
Milford was once home to numerous granite quarries, which produced a stone that was used, among other things, to make the pillars for the U.S. Treasury in Washington, D.C. - pillars that can still be seen on the American $10 bill. Its nickname remains "The Granite Town," although only one small quarry is in operation as of 2007.
Like many New England riverside towns, Milford developed several thriving textile mills in the 19th century. That industry left New England by World War II, but Milford remains the commercial and retail center for surrounding towns. Major employers included casting company Hitchiner Manufacturing Co., a metal cable manufacturer Hendrix Wire and Cable Inc. and a contract manufacturing solutions company, Cirtronics Corporation.
Milford is home to the Milford State Fish Hatchery. The town also holds the Souhegan Valley Boys & Girls Club, built on the former home of the now-bankrupt private theater American Stage Festival.
Milford was a stop on the underground railroad for escaped slaves. It was also the home of Harriet E. Wilson, who published the semi-autobiographical novel
in 1859, making it the first novel by an African-American published in the country.
The Milford Oval, officially called Union Square even though it is triangular in shape (the "oval" name dates from the 19th century, when it was that shape), is the town center, with the Pillsbury Bandstand as its centerpiece and the Souhegan River as backdrop.