Millville is located at , approximately west of the Atlantic Ocean and about south of Indian River Bay. It is contiguous on the east with Ocean View, and bordered on the north, west and south by unincorporated portions of Sussex County. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of, all land.
Demographics
At the 2000 census, there were 259 people, 111 households and 71 families residing in the town. The population density was 534.1 per square mile. There were 141 housing units at an average density of 290.8 per square mile. The racial make-up of the town was 96.91% White, 1.93% from other races, and 1.16% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.77% of the population. There were 111 households of which 23.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.6% were married couplesliving together, 4.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.0% were non-families. 31.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.96. 18.5% of the population were under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 30.1% from 25 to 44, 25.1% from 45 to 64, and 18.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.0 males. The median household income was $36,932 and the median family income was $45,417. Males had a median income of $29,821 and females $22,000. The per capita income was $21,250. None of the families and 1.6% of the population were living below the poverty line, including no under eighteens and 3.8% of those over 64.
Government
Elected officials
Millville has a council-manager form of government. Under the current governmental structure and electoral system, which went into effect with the election of March 3, 2001, a five-person town council governs the town. After each election, the council elects one of its members to serve as mayor. Another council member serves as deputy mayor, another as treasurer, and another as secretary, while the fifth council member serves as a council member alone with no additional duties. Each council member serves a two-year term, and the terms are staggered so that three of the council members are elected in each odd-numbered year and two in each even-numbered year. The Annual Municipal Election is held on the first Saturday in March. Anyone 18 years old or older registered to vote in Millville may run for the town council as long as he or she has lived in Millville for at least 90 days before the date of that years election. If only one person runs for a particular council seat, that person takes office automatically without any election being held that year for that seat. If no one runs for a particular council seat, the incumbent automatically serves another term without any election being held that year for that seat.
Appointed officials and town operations
A town manager oversees the day-to-day operations of the town. The Delaware State Police provides police service to Millville under a contract with the Town and the Millville Volunteer Fire Company serves Millville, Ocean View, and unincorporated portions of Sussex County as far east as the Assawoman Canal and as almost as far west as Dagsboro; it purchased its first motor-driven firefighting vehicle in 1936 and today operates 16 vehicles. Sussex County handled all land useregulation in Millville until 1993, when Millville itself began to pass zoningordinances to control growth.
History
The early settlement of the Millville area by Europeans is poorly recorded, although it is known that the swampy, marshy nature of much of the land of eastern Baltimore Hundred in southeastern Delaware when the first Europeans arrived led them to establish plantations on higher ground in the vicinity of what are now Millville, Ocean View, and Clarksville. Millville itself grew up around a steam-powered sawmill operated by CaptainPeter Townshend in the late 19th century, becoming a center for lumber, agricultural products, and commercial fishing. For a time, the names "Dukestown" and "Dukesville" were considered for the town because of the prominence and number of members of the Dukes family who lived in the area. Eventually, the town was named Millville because of the sorghum mills, lumber mills and grist mills in the area. Millville was incorporated in 1906. It had a population of 206 at the time, and has grown in population only very slowly since, reaching only 259 by the 2000 census. However, the population more than doubled by the 2010 census, rising to 544 residents, the highest in the recorded history of Millville. Millville was considered the principal town of Baltimore Hundred, although this today lacks meaning because Delaware's hundreds lost their political functions long ago and now serve only as geographic points of reference.
