Old Fire House
Church Ave., Milford, DEThe fire company has always served an important social as well as humanitarian function in Milford and is thus eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A. Milford has had a fire company since 1802. This particular building was erected in 1925 to serve as the home for the Carlisle Fire Company and also to serve the town of Milford as a community center.
The desire on the part of the Carlisle Fire Company to physically incorporate a community center into the building in 1925 signifies the central role that the fire company played in the social life of the town and its environs. When the building was constructed, there were a few commercial establishments that could accommodate large numbers of people for meetings and cultural performances, but they were older structures and none was of the size of the fire company auditorium. The community center was well used and served as a focal point that the residents could look to as a place in which to hold large public events.
The exterior changes to the building are actually minor. They consist of replacing the original window lights with modern thermal panes. Also, two of the garage doors have been closed in. However, the change was done so that the brick and glass fill gives the visual impression of closed doors with a brick lower portion and glass upper portion. The rooftop solar panels are not highly visible from the street level.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.