Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Mill Creek

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Mill Creek

Mill Creek’s post office opened in 1840, and 58% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1920 on and the census since 1900.

1840first post office
0on the National Register
58%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Mill Creek began

When was Mill Creek founded?

1840

The Mill Creek post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 273 in 19002020 census: 59186 years
Founding year: the first Mill Creek post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Mill Creek’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Mill Creek are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Mill Creek’s homes were built before 1938.On the map since 19203 editions of the USGS map, 1920 to 1990. Watch Mill Creek change.Deep rootsA post office since 1840: 186 years of Mill Creek.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Mill Creek’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mill Creek’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Mill Creek, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Mill Creek yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Mill Creek is a village in Union County, Illinois, United States. The population was 59 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1840. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 65 to 59 (-9%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

On the map

Mill Creek on the map, 1920 to 1990

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mill Creek. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Mill Creek on the 1920 USGS mapMill Creek on the 1978 USGS mapMill Creek on the 1990 USGS map1920Jonesboro sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Mill Creek.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
People over time

Mill Creek, census by census

01002003001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 273

Between 59 and 273 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mill Creek’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Mill Creek

Nobody well known was born in Mill Creek itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Rush LimbaughAmerican political commentator · b. 1951
Linda M. GodwinAmerican astronaut · b. 1952
Terry JonesAmerican anti-Islamic right wing activist and t… · b. 1951
D
D. R. FulkersonAmerican mathematician · b. 1924
L
Levi CaseyAmerican triple jumper · b. 1904
B
Billy SwanAmerican musician and songwriter · b. 1942

Questions about Mill Creek’s history

What year was Mill Creek founded?

The Mill Creek post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.