Dixie, Washington — Upstream From Walla Walla on Mill Creek

Dixie sits east of Walla Walla along Mill Creek, where the valley begins climbing toward the Blue Mountains.

Water coming out of those mountains helped support farms, mills and settlement along the creek corridor. Roads followed the same practical route, connecting rural households with Walla Walla's much larger commercial center.

Dixie remained small, but its position on Mill Creek ties it directly to a problem the city downstream has spent generations managing: too much water arriving too quickly. Walla Walla's elaborate flood-control system exists because the creek can be considerably less gentle than it looks in summer.

Dixie occupies the upstream end of that shared geography. Municipal boundaries stop at surveyed lines. Creeks are notoriously unimpressed by them.