Mill Creek (Marion County, Oregon) - History

History

Mill Creek was named for a sawmill built along its banks as part of a 19th-century Methodist mission. The mission, established by Jason Lee, began operations in 1834 near what later became Salem, and the mill is thought to date to 1840–41. A canal between Mill Creek and the North Santiam River was completed in 1857 to increase water flow to the mill. The canal was later called the Salem Ditch.

Artificial structures built in the mid-19th century altered the course of the original lower reaches of Mill Creek. Waller Dam, built around 1864 and modified in 1915, split Mill Creek into a millrace and what is sometimes referred to as North Mill Creek. The millrace, which originally powered a woolen mill, flows through the Willamette University campus.

Another diversion canal, Shelton Ditch, built in the mid-1800s, runs from Mill Creek near the municipal airport through the southern edge of downtown Salem. It empties into Pringle Creek near Pringle Park.

In January 2012, heavy rain from a winter storm caused many Oregon streams, including Mill Creek, to overflow their banks. Muddy water from the creek covered some of Salem's streets and parking lots and ran into homes and basements. Further upstream, an estimated 40 percent of the city of Turner was inundated when Mill Creek rose 2.5 feet (0.76 m) above flood stage.