Mill Creek is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is located between the cities of Everett and Lynnwood, approximately 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Seattle. Take a look below for 25 interesting and awesome facts about Mill Creek, Washington, United States.

1. The city has a population of 18,244 as of the 2010 census, and is estimated to have over 20,000 residents as of 2018.

2. The city lies along State Route 527 and North Creek, a tributary of the Sammamish River, on the east side of Interstate 5.

3. The city is one of the wealthiest suburbs in the Seattle metropolitan area and was originally a planned community conceived in the 1970s.

4. The planned development was centered around a country club and golf course, with other development occurring nearby in later phases.

5. It was incorporated as a city in 1983, shortly after the completion of the first phase of development, and underwent major population growth due to continued suburban development and annexation of nearby areas.

6. The city’s downtown area is centered around the Mill Creek Town Center, a mixed-use lifestyle center and retail complex that opened in 2004.

7. The Mill Creek area was originally settled in the early 20th century by various farming families, from whom several local placenames are now derived. After the construction of the Bothell–Everett Highway in 1913 as part of the Pacific Highway, two junctions at Murphy’s Corner and Wintermute’s Corner gained small stores and gas stations to serve visitors.

8. In 1931, Doctor Manch N. Garhart acquired 800 acres (320 ha) in the area and used it to grow Gravenstein apples and Bartlett pears while also raising cattle.

9. The Garhart property, named Lake Dell Farm for a small reservoir built by local families, was later sold in 1967 to real estate developers after the market for local lumber and fruits had declined.

10. The Garhart property, along with several neighboring farms, were optioned by various real estate developers in the 1960s and 1970s as a potential master planned community due to its proximity to the recently completed Interstate 5.

11. It would be the first modern planned city in Washington state, following in the footsteps of earlier planned cities like Longview, built in 1918.

12. The community, named “Olympus”, was planned to include 3,300 acres (1,300 ha) in its first phase with 1,300 acres (530 ha) for homes, an industrial park, a shopping center, and a golf course.[12] After a local recession in the early 1970s, the development project was sold in 1973 to Tokyu Land Development and designed by a subsidiary of the Obayashi Corporation named United Development.

13. The development was renamed “Mill Creek”, beating out the Chinook Jargon word “Klahanie”, although there had never been a mill in the vicinity and a waterway of that name was not present in the area until the 2000 renaming of Smokehouse Creek.

14. Mill Creek’s master plan was submitted to the county council in January 1974.

15. A homeowners association was established in December 1974 with funding from United Development to manage the area’s security patrol, street maintenance, and other tasks.

16. The initial plan included consist of 4,600 homes, with eventual plans to house 12,000 people, a 260-acre (110 ha) park, and an 18-hole golf course.

17. Construction began in early 1975 on the golf course and adjoining country club, while the first homes were under construction by the following year.

18. The first set of homes were designed to resemble country residences, with large floorplans and prominent use of wood furnishings, and sold for an average of $65,000 (equivalent to $296,000 in 2020 dollars).

19. Tokyu Land Development later re-used these home designs for the domestic market in Japan, where they were sold under the “Mill Creek” brand in the 1990s.

20. The final phase of the original Mill Creek development, consisting of 33 condominiums, was completed in late 2003.

21. A majority of the first phase’s 1,767 homes and condominiums were completed by early 1983, when an incorporation petition was submitted by residents after reaching the population threshold of 3,000 needed for cityhood.

22. At the time, the homeowners association and county government had already provided much of the area’s infrastructure and maintenance requirements, but local residents resisted attempts to raise property tax assessments.

23. Mill Creek was officially incorporated as a city on September 30, 1983, ten days after a vote of residents passed, and encompassed 1.92 square miles (5.0 km2).

24. Mill Creek was the first new city to be incorporated in Snohomish County since Brier in 1965 and the newest in the state since Ocean Shores in 1970.

25. In the years following incorporation, Mill Creek reduced its property tax rates and formed its own police department, library, postal address, and land-use board.