Industry in Milford through the years

Most Milfordians know that the shoe factories and granite quarries were a big part of business in Milford in the past, but there were other major businesses as well. 

Boots and shoes 

The boot and shoe industry started in 1795. Up until this point, Milford was a farming community. Colonel Ariel Bragg started making shoes after purchasing $2.50 worth of tools and 40 pounds of shoe leather on credit; he bought a little bit of calf skin for $7 - and from this he made 22 pairs of shoes. With a horse he had rented for 50 cents, he brought the shoes to Providence to sell. From this humble start was born the wholesale manufacturing of footwear in Milford.

Much of the early work was done in home workshops. When power became available, factories emerged. In 1837, there were 128,000 pairs of shoes produced; by 1846 it was just shy of 244,000 pairs. By 1856, there were 11 manufacturing firms, mainly in the area of Central, Jefferson, and North Bow Streets. This manufacturing lessened over time, but was still happening in the late 1970s. (I worked there in the early 70s and I fondly recall the inside of that historic building at the corner of Depot and Central Streets, as well as the one on North Bow Street, both of which seemed very old even then.) 

Straw hats 

There was a straw-hat business here, as well. In 1810, Samuel Penniman, Jr. had a small shop in town. By the 1860s, Benjamin H. Spaulding had started a straw business manufacturing women’s hats. A couple of years later, he was employing 400 people. The shop, which was on the corner of Pearl and Lincoln Streets, was twice destroyed by fire. A third fire in 1924 annihilated the factory completely. There was a temporary move of the business to Medway, but then in 1928 the company moved back and into the large building on North Bow Street (that later became Milford Shoe Company). For a while in the 1950s that building was occupied by Kartiganer Hat Corporation, but they moved to Upton. 

There were a couple of other small straw manufacturers in Milford. One of those, on Pine Street, was owned by a Mr. Bose, who was caught in Chicago and brought back to stand trial for burning his own shop down and defrauding the insurance company. During the height of the industry in Milford, there were over 700 straw operators employed here; two-thirds were women. It was a welcome way to earn money for women who could not work full time. Straw hats were made for summer; wool and felt for winter. The towns of Milford, Medway, and Upton were leaders in the millinery trade for a number of years. But, by the 1950s changes in fashion and the availability of synthetic materials brought about the demise of this industry in town. 

Cigars

You may not know that Milford had a robust cigar manufacturing industry. It started in 1880 with just one manufacturer, but in short order there were twenty firms, which were here for about fifty years. The peak for this was in 1887 when there were 2,216,525 cigars made. Along with machinery to produce the cigars, came the end of the businesses. There are some older people who recall the wooden Indian that stood outside the William Hale factory on Main Street. Folklore says that just after the owner destroyed that, he found out he could have sold it for $1,000. Imagine what it would be worth today!

Quarries 

And, of course, the quarries. Yes, Milford is the only place where pink granite is found. It is said that it was first discovered by James and William Sherman at an area near where Route 495 crosses Route 16. They were already engaged in quarrying, but after they split open a huge boulder, they found inside a pink-colored granite. This carved out Milford’s destiny and brought this small town to the forefront of the granite-cutting and building business. In 1845 there were six men quarrying granite, but in 1875 there were 200 men employed. The earliest site was in the Braggville section of town, where the former Porthole Restaurant was. The construction of the railroad and its coming through town in 1847 allowed the movement of large sections of rock. The history of the quarries is rich. And they also changed names and merged, so that makes it challenging to understand where each one was because what was called a certain name at one point, would be something else at a different point in time. The sheer amount of granite mined in Milford is astonishing. It’s estimated that more than a million and a half tons of granite came out of this town. 

Here are just a few of the hundreds of places where pink granite from Milford can be found: Memorial Hall (where the museum is located - come and visit!); Bancroft Memorial Library and the Town Hall in Hopedale, Worcester City Hall; Boston Public Library; Pennsylvania Station, Brooklyn Museum, U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and the American Museum of Natural History in New York; First Division Monument and Eccles Federal Reserve Building in Washington, D.C.; Singapore Changi Airport, Singapore. 

Historical Museum 

To learn more about Milford’s interesting history, stop by the Milford Historical Museum on Thursdays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.   

Construction of the Huckins, Temple & Wood Shoe Factory. 7 & 9 Charles Street, opposite 53 Depot Street. Courtesy photos