Editing Milford, Connecticut (section)

===Early history===

[[File:Eells-Stow House -- Milford, CT.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Eells-Stow House]], {{circa|1700}}, is believed to be the oldest extant house in Milford.]]

When the English first encountered the territory, the [[Paugusset]] (an [[Algonquian peoples|Algonquian-speaking]] tribe) predominated. English colonists affiliated with the contemporary [[New Haven Colony]] purchased land which today comprises Milford, [[Orange, Connecticut|Orange]], and [[West Haven, Connecticut|West Haven]] on February 1, 1639, from Ansantawae, chief of the local Paugusset. They knew the area as ''Wepawaug,'' named for [[Wepawaug River|the small river]] which runs through the town. The English built a grist mill by the Wepawaug River in 1640.<ref name="Early Milford">{{cite journal|last1=Greene|first1=M. Louise|title=Early Milford|journal=The Connecticut Magazine|date=March 1899|volume=V|issue=3}}</ref> Streets in Milford and Orange were later named "Wepawaug".

During the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]], the Milford section of the [[Boston Post Road]], a vital route connecting [[Boston]], [[New York City|New York]], and other major coastal cities, was blockaded by [[Continental Army|Continental forces]]. Fort Trumbull was constructed to protect the town. The Liberty Rock monument commemorates the site of the blockade.

By 1822, the [[New England town|town]] had grown large enough that residents in Milford's northern and eastern sections chartered the Town of Orange. During the next century and a half, the remaining section of Milford was known for shipbuilding, farming, and oystering. Industrial facilities were also developed.

Because of its location on Long Island Sound, Milford became a [[beach resort]] for residents of New Haven and [[Bridgeport, Connecticut|Bridgeport]] in the latter 19th century.

In 1899, the "Memorial Bridge" (a "stone bridge and tower commemorating the town's history and founders")<ref>{{cite journal|last1=South Central Regional Council of Governments|title=#5 Milford Center Historic Walk|journal=Milford Center Historic Walk|date=1991}}</ref> replaced the last mill over the Wepawaug, which had closed in 1894.<ref name="Early Milford" /> The bridge was described as "simple in design, its broad copings surmounted with rough hewn blocks of granite, bearing the names of the first settlers. There are ten blocks on the south and twenty on the north coping. At each end of the former is a stone four feet wide by five and a half high."<ref name="Early Milford" />  It is located where Broad Street crosses the Wepawaug River.

In 1903, the southeastern portion of the town was incorporated as the Borough of [[Woodmont, Connecticut|Woodmont]]. In 1959, the Town of Milford, including the Borough of Woodmont, was incorporated as the City of Milford.
[[File:Milford Connecticut old bridge.jpg|thumb|left|View of Milford's greens on a 19th-century naïve landscape painting]]