Editing Milan, New York (section)

=== Remains least populous town ===
The early population peaked in 1840 at 1,745 residents and went into decline until 1930 with only 622 residents.<ref name="census">US Federal Census schedules</ref> It was the opening of the [[Erie Canal]] (1825) and then the development of the railroad and the move to river cities and the [[western migration]] that caused the decline. Also, Milan's soil was hilly and rocky and tough to farm. Then following the 1930s and the [[Great Depression]] the population grew again, due in part to the construction of the [[Taconic Parkway]], which ended in Milan at the time, and then the post-[[World War II]] boom.

The 1840 population level was reached again in 1980, some 140 years later. From the 1980s to the turn of the new century, Milan was one of the fastest-growing towns in Dutchess County.<ref name="census" /> However, it remains the least-populous town in the county.<ref>[http://www.co.dutchess.ny.us/CountyGov/Departments/Planning/PLhistoricalpop.pdf Dutchess County Department of Planning and Development]</ref>