The Milford Historical Society Endowment Fund

The Milford Historical Society is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 1973 with the mission

of collecting, preserving and sharing the history of the Milford, Michigan area. We are an educational organization with the Milford Historical Museum in Milford, Michigan serving as the primary vehicle for our efforts to educate the local community about the history of the area. An important part of or mission involves engaging local high school students to share the area history. Students volunteer at the Museum as docents (guides) over their final two years in high school. Those who complete 100 hours of service as docents by the time that they graduate are awarded $1,000 scholarships. We usually award 2 or 3 scholarships each year.

The Milford Historical Society has created a dedicated Endowment Fund which will be invested to provide income for these student scholarships, as well as supporting the operation of the Milford Historical Museum with any earnings beyond that needed for the scholarships. At the current rate of return on conservative investments, we estimate that a fund of $60,000 should be sufficient to provide for the annual scholarships. We have also provided for the naming of each scholarship on behalf of the donors, should any single donation be made at a level of $30,000 or more. Scholarships may be named for individuals or for corporations. Scholarships are awarded at the end of each school year to the graduating seniors who have completed their service requirements at the Museum.

The Milford Historical Museum is located at 124 E. Commerce Street in Milford, Michigan 48381, and is open from 1 – 4 PM on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. The museum displays historic  memorabilia that has  been donated by area residents as well as featuring a second floor that is furnished and decorated just as a turn of the century hoe might have been in Milford in the late 1800’s. In addition, the museum staff provides history research for those doing genealogical work or who want to know the background of the Milford home. The Milford Historical Society maintains at the Museum an archive of every issue of the Milford Times news weekly since its beginning in 1871 and also has an extensive photo collection of historic photos and sells reproduction prints of selected photos.

We have established a crowd funding site for this endowment fund on the Crowdrise.com web site - https://www.crowdrise.com/themilfordhistorical

Please consider supporting our mission.

Granny's Attic Sale

A part of the "Village Lifestyle" that I wrote about last time are all of the little events that take place in The Village of Milford. This weekend there are two events to partake of going on - the annual Summer Sidewalk Sales, at which the downtown merchant literally move a part of their inventory out onto the sidewalks and conduct sales. In addition there are food tent a beer tent and music to keep the event going until 10 PM at night and beyond. The downtown merchants close up shop at 10 PM but the beer tent and music go on to provide entertainment until midnight.

In addition to the Sidewalk Sales the Milford Historical Society will be holding it's annual Granny's Attic Sale from 10 AM until 5 PM both days on the lawn and front porch of the Milford Historical Museum at 124 E. Commerce Rd (one block from Main Street) in downtown Milford. This is sort of like a church rummage sale, only on steroids and without the clothes. There are items that are donated from estates in the Milford, Highland and Commerce areas during the year, in addition to items donated by the Historical Society membership.There's no clothing at this sale, but there will be some furniture and this year there are some very unique items from area estates. There will be a collection of vintage console and table-top radios and a collection of N-gauge model railroad equipment and accessories. Additionally there is Depression-era glassware and lots of glass and china bowls, dishes and knick-knacks. Come out to Milford and find a hidden treasure at the Granny's Attic sale.

See below for some pictures of the kinds of items that you'll be able toe find at Granny's Attic -

Help the Milford Historical Society by shopping at Kroger

Shop at Kroger and help the Milford Historical Society

Did you know that you can sign up your Kroger Rewards card for the Kroger Community Rewards program and the Milford Historical Society will receive quarterly donations from the Kroger program, based upon how much you spend at Kroger on groceries, gas and at the Pharmacy?

This program is part of Kroger’s give-backs to the communities that they serve and does not impact at all the points that you get for gas discounts. It is an additional donation that Kroger makes to support local non-profit organizations in the communities that they are located in.

Click here to read a Frequently Asked Questions article about the program. The Historical Society will be registered, but each person who wishes to contribute will have to re-register annually.

Click here or on the Kroger graphic to go to the Kroger Community Rewards site and sign up.

A new rewards year starts MAY 1st and you must sign up each year, so there’s still plenty of time to sign up and get the donations rolling before the May 1 renewal date.

The Non-Profit Organization (NPO) number for the Milford Historical Society under this program is 91661. Write that down, because you’ll need to enter it at the Kroger Community rewards site. You do not have to live in Milford in order to support this effort, just shop at your local Kroger store and register your Kroger Rewards card to this worthy charity.

If you don’t have a computer or feel comfortable using one, bring your Kroger card to the next Milford Historical Society General Membership meeting and we’ll help you sign up. You can find out when and where those meetigns are taking place by going to our Web site – www.milfordhistory.org.  You can also come into the Museum when it reopens on a Wednesday or Saturday between 1 & 4 PM and we’ll help you register your card to help the Milford Historical Society. While you’re there, if you aren’t a member, you can join the society, if you’d like. Remember our motto – you don’t have to be a relic to be a member.

Even if you aren’t a member of the Milford Historical Society, you can register your card to help support the MHS and the Milford Historical Museum. Having a group dedicated to preserving and sharing our area history and a museum right in town is not something that many local communities have, so we hope that you will help out in this painless way to help keep Milford the great place that it is to live and work.

Christmas Open House at the Milford Museum - Dec 8

Image courtesy of marin/
FreeDigitalPhotos.net

On Dec 8, the Milford Historical Society will be hosting a  Christmas Open House from 12 noon until  4 PM at the Milford Historical Museum 124 E. Commerce St. Visitors will see the Museum decorated for the holidays,  listen to Victorian Christmas carols and Victorian Story-telling, and taste Victorian treats. Shop various crafted items and museum gifts for the holidays! Experience Christmas the way it used to be way back when.

The perfect Christmas gift for any resident of Milford is a copy of the book “Ten Minutes Ahead of the Rest of the World”, the history of Milford from its founding through the turn of the century. If you’ve ever wondered about life in the pioneer days or the mid-century 1800’s, when Milford was just getting started, this is a great read. It also has the histories of most of the historic homes in the Village – who built it and when and who was the first owner. The book has great pictures of homes and life in Milford during the 1800’s, as well as the great stories. Read about the great bank failure in Milford and who absconded with the money. Read about the first settlers in Milford and where they came from. It’s a must have book, if you live in Milford.

Tours of the Museum will be conducted by costumed docents  and the museum’s living areas will be

decorated in the style of the periods that they depict. The museum’s second floor features a living room, dining room kitchen and bedroom all furnished as they might have been back in the 1800’s, along with displays of the toys of that era and lots of photos of Milford in the 1800s.

In addition to the sights to see, there will be old time caroling and treats to taste from the Victorian era (all freshly made of course).  A cookbook that contains the recipes for many of the treats and more will also be on sale. There are picture books, T-shirts and other items for sale in the Museum store.

So, come share a bit of Milford’s history, be entertained and have a snack while you shop or take the tour of the upper floor.  If you’ve never been to the Museum, this is a perfect opportunity. Admission is free, although we do request that you make a donation to the Museum, if you are able.

Milford Historical Museum Open House - May 18

 

 

If you haven’t been to the Historical Museum lately (or maybe ever), you’re in luck.  Our museum opened for the season on May 1st and will be open on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. 

In honor of our opening, the Historical Society will be hosting an Open House on Saturday, May 18th from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.   This family friendly event will allow guests to visit our museum and see displays depicting Milford over the years.  Demonstrations will be on going thru out the day.  On our front lawn, you will be able to see candle dipping, woodworking, yarn spinner, and basket weaving demonstrations throughout the day.  Kids of all ages will be able to participate in games from long ago.

We will also have a special guest in the Parlor.  Wife of the 16th President, Mary Todd Lincoln will greet guest and give a glimpse of live in the White House.   Also on hand will be the Huron Valley Numismatic Club that will be able to answer questions from coin collector enthusiastic. Hands on demonstration will take place in our log cabin display where kids will be able to make a cornhusk doll and in the kitchen see how butter was made.

It will be a day full of fun activities for the whole family! Admission to the museum is free and open to all; you do not need to be a member to attend.

You haven't lived in Milford until you've...

visited the Milford Historical Museum.

It’s amazing to me to find out how many people who are life-long residents of Milford have never been to the Museum. I will grant you that it isn’t the easiest thing in the world to do. The Museum is only open two days a week – Wednesdays and Saturdays – and then only from 1 to 4 PM. Still that affords the opportunity to visit for most families.

The Milford Historical Museum is housed in a historic building just one block east of Main Street on Commerce – 124 E. Commerce Road is the address.  I won’t steal the thunder of the Museum docents by telling you about the history of the building; however, until the early 1970’s it served as the Village Hall and Police Station. It has an interesting history before that, which you will learn on your tour through the Museum.

The Milford Historical Society (MHS) was founded in 1973 with the mission to collect, preserve and share the history of Milford, Michigan. The primary vehicle for accomplishing that mission is the Milford Historical Museum, which the MHS opened in 1976. The MHS selectively accepts donations of historic memorabilia – pictures, historic objects, etc.  Museum volunteers catalogue the items and either store them or put them on display. Some collections of objects, such as civil war collectibles or American Indian artifacts are on permanent display and some, like historic wedding dresses, are just displayed on special occasions.

On the first floor is a replica of the inside of a typical log cabin of the pioneer days – a somewhat crude, one-room space filled with the types of objects and implements that the earliest settlers might have had with them when they came to Milford.  Most of the second floor is devoted to rooms that are furnished as they would have been in the mid- to late-1800’s. There’s a living room, a dining room a kitchen and a bedroom all set up as they might have been in that era. There are also displays of toys and other objects that might have been found in that timeframe. Along a back hallway are historic pictures taken in the area during the late 1800’s.

In addition to displays the Museum is host to a research function which helps people research the homes and families of Milford in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. As part of that research area there is a capability to go back through all of the issues of the Milford times since it’s beginning in the mid-1800’s. The Museum is one of two locations that have microfilm of all of the back issues. The MHS took on the responsibility for microfilming the Milford Times archive back in the 70’s and has been having it done ever since. The other microfilm viewers with access that film are at the Milford Public Library, based upon film that the MHS provides to them.

So, get to the Museum. You’ll have a unique two-day opportunity September 15^th and 16^th when the Museum is open both days from 11 AM until 5 PM as part of the Milford Home Tour. Come out to see some of the historic homes of Milford and then take in the Museum, too. There will be docetns both days conducting tours. You can learn more about the Museum and see interior pictures of the upstairs at our Web site – www.milfordhistory.org. You really can’t say you’ve lived in Milford and never been to the Museum.