Milford Presbyterian Church

A Presbyterian college is what set Milford apart. The Handbook of Texas says the Synod of Texas accepted the town's offer in 1902 to open Texas Presbyterian College for women there, and that for the next twenty years Milford flourished. The Ovilla entry credits the Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian congregation with helping to start the girls' school. The college closed in 1929 for lagging enrollment and was consolidated with Austin College. Milford began a slow decline in the Depression, and by 1931 its population had fallen to 747.

What the plaque says

Milford Presbyterian Church Organized in June 1855 with 16 members, as one of 4 Presbyterian churches within a radius of 500 miles. Early, horseback-traveling pastors organized and served 3 churches in outlying areas. Congregation built houses of worship in 1860, 1896, 1921. This church was 4 times host to the Presbytery, 1861-71; to Synod, 1920. Records show Milford has been self-sustaining, faithful to support Presbyterian colleges of Texas, and high in benevolences. Church bell, cast in New York, and brought here by ship, rail and ox-wagon, has called area to worship since 1871. (1970)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Hill County Courthouse — 13 mi
  Wesley C. Dodson's limestone Second Empire courthouse of 1890 on the Hillsboro square, gutted by fire on New Year's Day 1993 and rededicated in 1999 after a rebuilding that two Willie Nelson concerts helped pay for.
• Ellis County Courthouse — 19 mi
  J. Riely Gordon's courthouse of 1897 in Pecos red sandstone and pink granite, with twenty-one carved stone faces and two cornerstones left by a quarrel over its building.

More markers nearby

• First Baptist Church of Milford — steps away
• Milford Cemetery — 0.4 mi
• Hammel's Branch — 3.2 mi
• Italy Colored City Hall — 5.0 mi