Milford Then & Now

The Milford Post Office

In the late 1930s, Franklin D. Roosevelt's "alphabet soup" of federal agencies was going full steam, putting unemployed Americans back to work and spending New Deal money on local projects.

Even reliably Republican Milford got in on the act.

The town's new $76,000 post office was federally financed, though Milford granite and brick gave it some local flavor. Washington even helped decorate the place. Swedish immigrant Philip von Saltza was paid $700 for "Lumberman Log Rolling," his WPA mural that still hangs inside.

More than 500 people turned out before the post office officially opened. Republican U.S. Sen. Charles Tobey of nearby Temple praised the democratic nature of the postal service: "Whether you have three million or three cents, you can purchase a stamp." There was some irony in Tobey saying this inside a building paid for by Roosevelt's New Deal; he would become an outspoken critic of FDR and the growth of federal government.

Politics, however, could wait.

That evening, Milford residents danced inside the new post office to Savage's Orchestra. Anyone familiar with the post office lobby today may wonder exactly how much swaying was possible.

When the post office opened for business, dancing gave way to stamps and money orders. Arthur Dutton purchased a 3-cent stamp, and the first money order was made out to Joseph Shaughnessy.

And so, after the speeches, flags and dancing, Milford's new post office got down to the everyday business of delivering the mail.