Sometime around the early 19th century Hick's Neck had begun to be called the village of Milburn; the first documented use of the name Milburn was in 1839. In 1855, the village was officially founded as Baldwinsville, named in honor of Thomas Baldwin (1795–1872), a sixth-generation member of the Baldwin family of Hempstead and the leading merchant of Milburn at the time. Baldwin owned a general store named T. Baldwin and Sons. He also had a hotel at what would now be considered the northwest corner of Merrick Road and Grand Avenue. A third enterprise was his sawmill, which he operated by Silver Lake just southeast of the hotel.