Milford History Online

Throughout Milford’s history no place has rock ‘n rolled quite like the White Horse Inn. Situated in a long-standing colonial house and barn on Nashua Street, the White Horse featured not only its famous sourdough bread and French onion soup but a music scene that still conjures up musical memories for locals who were ready to get down in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

Situated in Captain Leonard Brook’s 1847 farmhouse and barn (parts of which were said to date even earlier), the White Horse décor echoed that of an old-time tavern. Known in the 1950s as the White Horse Farm Kitchen, it was then the place to go for Sunday roast beef. But by the late ‘70s the barn not only featured “casual country dining” with its Welsh rarebit and seafood pie but also weekend rhythm and revelers. 

The musical tried and true at the White Horse was what today would be called “classic rock.” Bands belted out tunes that generally ran counter to the disco craze or synthesizers of the New Wave.  But acts like Bat Magoon, Bazooka Joe, the Aces and Eights, and Dow Jonz could fill the hardwood dance floor on a Saturday night and pack ‘em in the 175-seat lounge. The White Horse also had its more eclectic moments, ranging from reggae to hardcore punk rock to fusion jazz. In April 1980, for instance, more than 200 customers were turned away at the door when Darius and Daniel Brubeck, sons of famous jazz artist Dave Brubeck, stopped by the White Horse between college shows. The gig was so popular that the Brubeck Gathering Forces fusion band was back again the following month — leading owner Diane Robey to book a series of jazzy performers well into 1981. Even as tastes changed from boogie fever to fluorescent pop to ‘90s grunge, the White Horse kept on rocking in Milford.

When it closed in 1997 after legal wrangling between Robey and manager Larry Miller, many in town felt that (to paraphrase a rock anthem of the day) they didn’t know what they had ‘til it was gone. After the colonial home was razed in 2000, one local preservationist told the Milford Cabinet, “we were horrified when the White Horse was torn down.” And when two teens — who later told police they were looking for “a thrill” — started a fire in the abandoned barn on a rainy night in November 2002, flames soared as high as 100 feet and brought down everything left on the site. 

Today the popular Giorgio’s restaurant certainly bests the proposed 7-11 gas station once slated as the White Horse’s replacement, but for local rock fans, the combined charm of 18th century timber and 20th century rock remains but a memory.