40th Anniversary

The City is celebrating it's 40th Birthday beginning in September.

Incorporated in 1983, the City of Mill Creek is home to nearly 21,000 people. Mill Creek is a physically active community with 10 attractive neighborhood and community parks, more than 23 miles of nature trails, and recreational facilities that support diverse recreational opportunities.

Historic vote: On September 30, 1983, 453 Snohomish County residents voted to incorporate Mill Creek, with 324 voting against. At the time, Mill Creek consisted of 1,160 acres (2 sq. miles).
Celebrations: We hosted an Open House on Tuesday, September 26th from 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. at City Hall South.

Preserving Mill Creek's History
These interpretive panels outline the City's history from before incorporation in 1983 through 2019 and include the following:

Living Off the Land, From Farms to a Planned Community, The Big Decision, A Place Called Home, Community Beyond Our Boundaries

These five historical panels are located on the Main Street Bridge in Mill Creek Town Center and Mill Creek City Hall South. View the PDF

Mill Creek Owls - Our Unofficial Mascot for 40 Years
An excerpt from a November 1983 article written by Lorraine Atkins “What do you do with an old tree stump? You can leave it as it is or you can call Don Farber, the Mill Creek Community Association maintenance worker, who will transform it into an owl.

Don has created owls of all sizes from tree stumps located throughout Mill Creek. The wide-eyed owl has become the unofficial mascot of the community. Don uses a chain saw to carve each owl. He then applies a blow torch to darken the wood and bring out its natural grain. Detailing is completed with an air brush, sandpaper, and other carving tools. The wood is also oiled to prevent splitting. The natural grain of the wood comes out even more as the carving is weathered by wind, rain, and sun… Three staring owls guard the main entrance to Mill Creek and a fat owl perches at the entrance to the new Holly subdivision. Another owl stares knowingly from his perch on the long twelfth fairway, watching golfers try to birdie the par-5 hole. Other owls welcome visitors to homes throughout the city…” including the beautiful Highlands Park owl.

Learn more about the City
• About Mill Creek
• Preserving Mill Creek's History
• HistoryLink.org
• Wikipedia.com
• Book, "Discover Mill Creek History 1890-2015" Virginia Garhart Peterson.

Our Newest Owl... It's been 40 years since the "Owl Man," Don Farber (1930-

2002), began welcoming folks to Mill Creek with his beautiful wide-eyed owl carvings. As part of our 40th-anniversary celebration, we wanted to do something special to honor the work of Mr. Farber, so we commissioned a new owl carving that will have a home outside City Hall.

Artist Jimmy Kitchens began carving our new owl, "Mili," at his studio in mid-August. He then brought the red-cedar beauty to Mill Creek for the nal stages of creation at our 40th Anniversary Celebration on August 31st at the Mill Creek Sports Park. Once at the event, Kitchens nished his carving and presented her to the City. Mili, carved from red cedar, was still in her early stages as of this writing, as seen in this photo with the artist. Do you have an owl in your yard, or have you seen one around Mill Creek? If yes, please email [email protected] and let us know more.