The Story of Longstone Street Festival

The Longstone Street Festival is a continuation of the tradition built with The Sunflower Street Festival. Longstone got its historic name from John Kugler for whom the expansion of the Milford area is accredited. Most of the stone buildings on Mill St. and adjacent to it were built by John. The building now housing the Vilardo Agency was Mill Street Distillery; the building east of it was the corn warehouse.

The long stone building on Main Street was the whiskey warehouse and had the cooperage shop on the second floor. The Milford Library building was built by Kugler about 1835; the first floor was a warehouse, the second floor a public meeting place. The stone used to build the library was collected by John Kugler after excavating a large amount to build his own toll free bridge.

The bridge did not happen, thus with the stone gathered, Kugler did himself a service and erected these buildings for storage of his distillery and gristmill products. Buildings that have since been put to new uses adding the diversity, history and charm that is The Historic MIlford District.