Millville was first settled in 1662, and officially incorporated in 1916 by division from Blackstone, Massachusetts. This region was originally inhabited by the Nipmuck people. Millville is in the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor and has a well-preserved lock which was used on the Blackstone Canal in the early 19th century. It also has a historic Friends Meetinghouse. In the first two decades of the 20th century, baseball great Gabby Hartnett, born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, grew up in Millville, played youth baseball in the Blackstone Valley League, and played for the Chicago Cubs, beginning in 1922. It has recently been discovered that the town's population in the early 1900s until around 1980 was almost 98% Irish Catholic. A Swedish population evidently settled here, and a local cemetery in Uxbridge was their burial site, Norden cemetery, near the Millville line.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of, of which is land and, or 1.40%, is water.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,724 people, 923 households, and 719 families residing in the town. The population density was 552.1 people per square mile. There were 958 housing units at an average density of 194.2 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 97.72% White, 0.77% African American, 0.04% Native American, 0.18% Asian, 0.26% from other races, and 1.03% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.62% of the population. There were 923 households out of which 44.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.8% were married couplesliving together, 9.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.0% were non-families. 15.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.95 and the average family size was 3.33. In the town, the population was spread out with 31.2% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 37.1% from 25 to 44, 17.5% from 45 to 64, and 8.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median agewas 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.3 males. The median income for a household in the town was $57,000, and the median income for a family was $61,513. Males had a median income of $42,407 versus $29,758 for females. The per capita income for the town was $20,497. About 4.6% of families and 5.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.6% of those under age 18 and 9.1% of those age 65 or over.
The Millville public library, located off of route 122, was established in 1919. In fiscal year 2008, the town of Millville spent 0.78% of its budget on its public library—some $12 per person.
