Mill City is on North Santiam River. The post office is in Marion County. Part of the community is on the south side of the river in Linn County. John Shaw and others moved the sawmill from Stayton to this place in 1887 and started the Santiam Lumbering Company. In the next year, he had a post office established with the name Mill City. Shaw was a son of Angus Shaw, who established the town of Shaw in Marion County. For story about Mill City by Fred Lockley, seethe Oregon Journal editorial page, July 9, 1932. Just west of the highway bridge across North Santiam River is the old railroad bridge. This interesting structure is largely made of wrought iron, although some steel' reinforcement was added in 1919 when it was relocated to its present position. It was made by Phoenix Bridge Company in 1888 for the crossing of Gienega Creek south of San Jose, California, on the Southern Pacific Company Coast Line. The compression members are segmented wrought iron sections riveted together to form tubes. These sections are similar to the iron framework of the Washington Monument and the columns used to support the first elevated railways in New York City. When the Southern Pacific Company abandoned the Mill City branch, they gave the bridge to the city. It is now decked over for a footpath.

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