Editing Mill Creek, Oklahoma (section)

==History==
In 1852, when the post office was first established, the town was named '''Mineral Hill''' and was within the [[Choctaw Nation]], [[Indian Territory]]. The 1855 Treaty of Separation between the Choctaws and Chickasaws established the latter as a separate nation, effective March 4, 1856. Mill Creek then fell within the Chickasaw Nation boundaries.  The post office was renamed Harris Mill in 1859, after Chickasaw Governor Cyrus Harris built a large grist mill on the local creek. The name changed back to Mill Creek in 1879.<ref name="MillCreekOK"/> In 1902, the town of Mill Creek incorporated in Indian Territory, and after statehood, became Mill Creek, Oklahoma, on November 16, 1907.<ref name="MillCreekOK"/>

The town's history is closely linked to the railroad. The St. Louis, Oklahoma, and Southern Railway laid tracks through the Mill Creek area from 1900 to 1901. However, the tracks were approximately {{convert|3|miles|km}} east of town, so many residents moved closer to the railroad.{{efn| The St. Louis, Oklahoma and Southern Railway was bought by the [[St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad]] (Frisco), in June 1901, which was then acquired by the [[Burlington Northern]] in 1980. The Burlington Northern merged with the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad]] in 1997, creating what is now known as the BNSF system.<ref name="EOHC-MillCreek">[http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=MI027 O'Dell, Larry. "Mill Creek." ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.] Accessed May 14, 2017.</ref> }} Soon, the town became one of the largest shipping points for cattle in the region.<ref name="EOHC-MillCreek"/>

The population peaked in 1907, at 644.<ref name="EOHC-MillCreek"/>