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–Not graded
History · Mill Creek

Mill Creek’s post office opened in 1834, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 2 old photos and papers from 1892 on.

1834first post office
0on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Mill Creek’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Mill Creek began

When was Mill Creek founded?

1834

The Mill Creek post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1848.

2020 census: 285192 years
Founding year: the first Mill Creek post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1848.The full story ↓

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 writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Mill Creek’s homes were built before 1947.Deep rootsA post office since 1834: 192 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.
Retake an old viewMiner's Mills and Mill Creek, Luzerne C…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Mill Creek came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mill Creek.

Read it all →

The borough of Mill Creek was named for Mill Creek, a tributary of the Juniata River, on which it is located. The creek was the main source of power for many of the mills in the settlement years of the 1700s, as well as during much of the nineteenth century.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Mill Creek, 1834 to 1892

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1834Post officeThe Mill Creek post office opens
  3. 1844Born hereHenry C. Warfel is born here
  4. 1892In the archiveMiner's Mills and Mill Creek, Luzerne County, Pa. 1892
By decade

Mill Creek, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s2 items
Miner's Mills and Mill Creek, Luzerne County, Pa. 18921892Miner's Mills and Mill Creek, Luzerne County, Pa. 1892Miner's Mills and Mill Creek, Luzerne County, Pa. 18921892Miner's Mills and Mill Creek, Luzerne County, Pa. 1892
1900s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
US 22 wb at PA 655 nb in Mill Creek, May 20242024US 22 wb at PA 655 nb in Mill Creek, May 2024USPO Mill Creek PA 170602016USPO Mill Creek PA 17060Mill Creek United Methodist, Mill Creek PA 18522016Mill Creek United Methodist, Mill Creek PA 1852Main south of Mill2015Main south of Mill
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Miner's Mills and Mill Creek, Luzerne County, Pa. 1892
Retake this viewMiner's Mills and Mill Creek, Luzerne County, Pa. 1892, 1892

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Mill Creek’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Brady TownshipIts storyB−Union TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHenderson Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Mill Creek’s history

What year was Mill Creek founded?

The Mill Creek post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1848.

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 Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.