The Merchant Row Historic District encompasses the most intact area of old Milton Junction’s downtown. Old Milton Junction developed as a separate community only one mile west of Milton. While old Milton was a traditional commercial and college town, Milton Junction was a lively farmer’s and agricultural business town. The two communities merged in 1969, becoming the modern-day City of Milton.

Milton Junction grew quickly when the Chicago Northwestern Railroad made a “junction” with the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad in 1858. This railroad connection boosted agricultural trade in Milton Junction and this trade could be seen in many of the businesses and organizations in the downtown. At one time in Milton’s downtown, there were at least four tobacco warehouses, a “farmers’” bank, a Patrons of Husbandry or “Grange” Hall, and a tobacco wholesaler that developed into the region’s most important wholesaler of tobacco and other products to convenience stores in the Midwest.

The tobacco wholesaler, Chambers and Owen, spent 35 formative years in Milton in the Button Block, this district’s largest and most decorative building. Other businesses in this district included a long-time clothing store, a long-time drug store, long-time grocery stores, and a small bank, the State Bank of Milton Junction that operated from the 1880s to the 1930s.

Mid-twentieth century progress in old Milton Junction’s downtown resulted in many alterations to buildings. The success of the old farmer’s bank, now the First Community Bank, resulted in an expansion along Merchant Row that created a large interruption in the historic streetscape in the late twentieth century. So, it is this small, but very important group of buildings along Merchant Row and Vernal Street that have retained the historic character of the old downtown and reflects the important commercial history of this part of Milton.

The properties in this district are private. Please respect the rights and privacy of the owners.