Thomas Cochran, who arrived in 1801 and became Millerstown's first postmaster, built many of the fine stone houses that still stand. The borough was officially created and a town council formed in 1848, with Abraham Addams as chief burgess, John M. Caufman, Christian R. Gilmer, and Jacob Emerick as council members, and Thomas P. Cochran as clerk to council. As the decades passed, residents formed a fire department, water authority, and electric and telephone companies. Millerstown's leadership extended beyond the town through figures such as James Addams Beaver, born there in 1837, who became a Civil War general, Governor of Pennsylvania, and helped establish Pennsylvania State University; his uncle George Beaver, who served in the House of Representatives in 1841; Kirk Haines, who served in the State House of Representatives in 1855 and 1856 and then the State Senate, representing Perry County at the 1860 Republican National Convention; J. G. H. Rippman, who represented the district in the State House of Representatives from 1922 to 1925 and was largely responsible for building the State Road along the Juniata River from Amity Hall to Midway; and William J. Moore, who served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1971 to 1972 and in the Pennsylvania Senate from 1973 to 1987, where he contributed to improvements in agriculture and roads, including passage of Act 235 of 1982 to fund bridge rebuilding, including the Clarks Ferry Bridge. Numerous residents also served as Perry County Commissioner, including Abraham Addams, George Beaver, Thomas P. Cochran, Joseph Ulsh, E. T. Troutman, Hoyd E. Summy, Lawrence Beaver, William M. Roush, and Brenda Benner. Good railroad and canal access also guaranteed a thriving hotel business, and the Martin Hotel register contains the signatures of Presidents Chester A. Arthur in 1883 and Grover Cleveland in 1888.