Swartz Creek began as Miller Settlement

Swartz Creek did not begin with its current name. The city’s own brief history says German pioneer Adam Miller founded the community as “Miller Settlement.” That is the firm starting point; the city does not attach a date to Miller’s arrival in that account.

The name changed through the mail. The first post office opened in 1842 and was named for the nearby stream, Swartz Creek. The post-office name soon became the name people used for the settlement, too. The village was officially platted in 1877, and the state chartered Swartz Creek as a city in 1959.

Another well-documented early resident was Henry H. Crapo, who later served as Michigan’s governor. The city says he built a 1,000-acre cattle farm west of the settlement in 1860; much of that land later became housing.

You may see the city’s name explained as a German word for black water. That is a tempting story, but the municipal history cited here does not make that claim. What it does establish is simpler: Miller Settlement took the creek’s name when the post office arrived.