Milford, Pennsylvania is the county seat of Pike County. This is a very small borough located on the Delaware River across from New Jersey. The settlement was started in 1796 and it did have its periods of growth, with a population of 796 in 1870, but in the last Census there were only 1,103 people living there. Pike County has only 7,000 people living there during the Civil War.
There were no regiments in the Civil War that drew their men from Pike County, however several did recruiting there. The 151st Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry raised a company in the county that was mustered into service on October 20, 1862. It was a Nine Month Regiment that was assigned to the First Corps. The regiment won fame on the first day of Gettysburg.
Because the county is between New Jersey and New York, many men from the region enrolled in regiments from those two states.
On the Pike County Courthouse at the intersection of Broad St. and High St. is a memorial plaque listing all the men of Pike County who served in the Union forces during the Civil War.
The memorial is a simple list of names. There are no explanatory markers nearby to explain the list.
It is a shame that not more has been done to mark this monument. The building itself is a handsome product of the Reconstruction Era. It was dedicated in 1874 and it is designed in the Second Empire style. The Civil War plaque is near the front door of the building.
At the bottom of the monument it says that the plaque was put up in 1938 by Gettysburg Chapter, National Society Daughters of the Union. 1938 was the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.
The courthouse is part of the Milford Historic District.
Pike County is no longer a major canal or railroad town. It is known as a vacation resort. The memorial itself is fairly simple. I would not reroute a trip to include Milford, but if you are travelling through the county seat you may want to stop by.
DELAWARE POST, G.A.R., was founded in February, 1884 and served as a gathering place for veterans of the Civil War.
All color photos taken by Pat Young.
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Sources:
History of Wayne, Pike and Monroe Counties, Pennsylvania Mathews, Alfred, Philadelphia, R. T. Peck & Co., 1886
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