Milford
Baker was born in Moscow, Maine on May 12, 1899, the eldest son of Elmer
and Nettie M. (Haynes) Baker. He graduated from Bingham High School
in 1917 and worked for a time in the lumbering operations of Forrest
H. Colby in Rockwood.
Milford
began his career as a photographer in about 1923, eventually setting
up a studio in Bingham near the banks of Austin Stream. He specialized
in regional landscape photographs, some of which he painstakingly colorized
in oil.
In
1928, he began photographing the construction of Wyman Dam and set up
a concession stand near the visitor center at the site, where he sold
his photographic postcards.
In
1929, Milford married Rubie Ellen Carpenter of Skowhegan and they made
their home in Bingham.
Milford
Baker drowned in the salmon pool directly below Wyman Dam on May 1,
1933, while fishing with friends.
