MILFORD - Under a strong summer sun, the Little Miami River snakes around an outcrop of rocks along downtown, changing course a little but never very much.

The river that brought Revolutionary War veteran and Methodist settler Rev. Francis McCormick here in 1797 now serves as a microcosm for the township's lengthy history.

The river accommodates the times: a grist mill in the early 1800s, a gathering of young fishermen today. Flooding may alter its path a bit, but the Little Miami hasn't changed much over the centuries.

Neither has Milford. The Methodist church at 541 Main St., built in 1835, still stands, as does the Mill Street Manor (formerly the Millcroft), which was built either in 1812, 1828, 1830 or 1842, depending on whom you ask.

No matter. There is a permanence here, the community focus shifting seamlessly over the years from Victorian home restoration to park development to downtown revitalization.

"History is very important to Milford," said Virginia Critchell of the Milford Historical Society, which has commissioned a history book on the town. "Milford needs this so that children in elementary school will have an accurate story about their town."

Accuracy already is an issue among Milford youth too. For instance:

• Bruce Colvin of Water Street, 17 and a soon-to-be senior at Milford High School, says the Little Miami provides the best fishing for perch.

• Jude Hueber, 14, of Wards Corner, who will be a freshman at Moeller High School next month, says no way, gar and catfish are the best game.

Milford has a mix of older, grander homes and more affordable one-story brick homes. The median home price in the city is $66,000. Victorians line many tree-lined residential streets near downtown, and restoration efforts are common sights.

"It's exciting to see younger couples moving in and fixing up, going back to the older styles in many cases," Gretchen Hurt said as she stripped the wood on the front porch of her circa-1890s two-story home on Cleveland Avenue, on the town's southern edge. It's one of several projects she's undertaken since moving from a Cleveland suburb five years ago. The fireplace and hardwood floors preceded it.

"A lot of us are going back to the future, I guess," she said. When her husband, James, landed a job at Structural Dynamics Research Corp. in nearBY Miami Township, the couple - who have three grown children - drew a circle around the firm's location on the map and then went hunting for a new home.

When they saw the intersection of Cleveland and Hickory avenues, "We knew it right away. This is where we wanted to live." Then they waited for a house to hit the market.

"We came to established roots but a lot of people still branch out," she said, citing several new additions to homes on her block. Another branching out has occurred in the township's nearBY business district, primarily on Main Street, where older shops such as Picket Fence Antiques mix with newer specialty shops, including the Ye Olde Stencil Shop and Lots of Dolls.

How diverse is the shopping? On Main, the Lavender Stick flower shop is directly across the street from the Gun Shop. Parking spaces on a recent afternoon reflected the dichotomy, too: a BMW convertible was parked next to a beat-up old Buick.

"Milford needs to find its niche, and smaller shops are important to this," said Chris Anderson, assistant city manager and director of community planning. He said the land-use committee is rewriting the zoning code because specialty stores are important to bringing in more people.

Ellora Mulgrow of Glendale is living proof.

Ms. Mulgrow, a math teacher at Hillcrest Training School for juvenile offenders, is a longtime doll collector and quick with photos of her grandchildren. She was an original organizer of the E. Roberta Bell Doll Guild, a local club that deals primarily - though not exclusively - in African-American dolls.

And she says Milford - specifically Malcolm Burnside's Lots of Dolls shop on Garfield Avenue - is the best place in the Tristate to find them. Prices range from $2 to $5,200.

"I just program my car and it takes me right here," Ms. Mulgrow said.

Mr. Burnside owned an IGA grocery store in town for 20 years, and figured that at age 66, "I'd be golfing and fishing BY now." One of the big "problems" is, business is booming, especially in mail-order.

Having seen both ends of the business approach - large, homogenous franchise and smaller, personalized shop - Mr. Burnside is encouraged BY the move toward niche stores.

"People see the windows at night," he explained, "and that's been good for business. Having a mix is important."

Many of the business district's buildings are historic. At the privately run but open-to-the-public library at 19 Water St., built in 1861, one can still get a library card for free.

"Businesses are family-owned here, you see the same people, they know you," said Phyllis Queroz, 50, of Newtonsville, who repairs vacuums for Allen's on Main Street. "It's quaint."

Ms. Queroz, thumbing through infants' clothes on a sidewalk rack at My-House-To-Yours, said she does all of her shopping in Milford. That afternoon's browse was for her 3-month-old granddaughter, Hannah.

Up the road on Main, Marvin Morris of Oakley pushed his 17-month-old grandson, Ryan, in a stroller. Mr. Morris, whose son, Bruce, owns the Milford Emporium, said he loves the town's friendly people and quaint shops, but "there's too little parking."

That might have to do with another of the city's small charms: although Milford has many two-hour-limit parking signs, there are no parking meters.

In a town that honors its history, the honor system applies to parking as well.