History:
The City of Mill Creek is a part of a larger vision that has been developing since the 1950's, though its name has varied from that of the home of the Greek gods (Olympus) to the Chinook Indians idea of open, free and outdoors (Klahanie).
Although there have been settlers and farms in the area for many years, relevant history begins with the purchase in the 1930's by Dr. Garhart of 800 acres, which would later become the major portion of Mill Creek. Dr. Garhart was known as a staunch naturalist who performed extensive inventories of the natural resources of the site and made numerous observations of the wildlife and vegetation. The larger Garhart property was surrounded by several families on smaller tracts (20-60 acres).
Dr. Tony Levitsis a former Mill Creek City Councilman, tells of the folklore surrounding one such family, the Garletts.
"They owned 50 acres, sold off ten to pay back taxes and then moved deep into the woods. There they built a cabin on what today is the 13th tee of the Mill Creek Golf Course. Access was over a rugged trail through the property that is now Larry's Smokehouse. The depression was a lean time; the family raised chickens, pigs, gardened and even did some logging anything to survive. The family of five lived in a cabin that measured 15 feet square and stood about 5 1/2 feet high. It had a crude door, an opening that passed for a window, a wood stove that supplied heat and cooking and a dirt floor, which was later planked over. Water came from a spring in the winter. During the summer the spring dried up and they had to carry water from Penny Creek. The cabin is long gone, replaced by the Laurel subdivision."
One remnant of the efforts of the Garharts, Garletts and other families which still does exist is the dam and reservoir constructed in 1935 just east of the intersection of State Route 527 and 164th Street South East. It was then named Winter mutes Corner and is still referred to as such on many maps.
