Corral Hollow Creek
Corral Hollow Creek, originally El Arroyo de los Buenos Ayres (The Creek of the Good Winds), later Buenos Ayres Creek, is a stream and tributary of the San Joaquin River, flowing through Alameda County and San Joaquin County, Central California.
...
, is a canyon partially located in
Alameda County
Alameda County ( ) is a List of counties in California, county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and List ...
, with parts in
San Joaquin County
San Joaquin County (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''San Joaquín'', meaning "Joachim, St. Joachim"), officially the County of San Joaquin, is a county (United States), county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 20 ...
, southwest of
Tracy, California
Tracy is the second most populated city in San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County, California, United States. The population was 93,000 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Tracy is located inside a geographic triangle form ...
. Corral Hollow Creek, formerly El Arroyo de los Buenos Ayres (The Creek of the Good Winds), from its source north of Mount Boardman, flows north 1.89 miles where it turns to flow west-northwest then turns abruptly east in the vicinity of Tesla to flow east where it turns again in a northeasterly direction for to the Delta-Mendota Canal in the
San Joaquin Valley
The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven c ...
.
History
Etymology
El Camino Viejo
El Camino Viejo a Los Ángeles ( en, the Old Road to Los Angeles), also known as El Camino Viejo and the Old Los Angeles Trail, was the oldest north-south trail in the interior of Spanish colonial Las Californias (1769–1822) and Mexican Alta Cali ...
, the oldest route between
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
and
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
Portezuela de Buenos Ayres
Corral Hollow Pass, originally Portezuela de Buenos Ayres (Pass of Good Winds) is a low mountain pass in the Diablo Range southeast of Livermore, in Alameda County, California. This pass, at an elevation of 1600 ft, was the point where El Cami ...
'' (Pass of Good Winds) to the Arroyo Seco and the
Livermore Valley
The Livermore Valley, historically known as the Valle de San José (Valley of San José), is a valley in Alameda County, California, located in the East Bay region. The city of Livermore is located in the valley.
Geography
The valley is bound ...
. The '49ers traveled through the canyon now named Corral Hollow on their way to the gold fields, as did the first mail to the Tuolumne mines. The name change was perhaps because at its mouth there was a large corral for catching wild horses. This "caral" was mentioned in the '' California Star'' on March 18, 1848:
:"We are credibly informed...that a number countrymen with several Californians are actively engaged in building an extensive caral, or enclosure, in the valley of the river San Joaquin, for the purpose of capturing wild horses. The caral...will enclose twenty-five acres of land..."
However, the name of the creek did not change for some time. The name "Arroyo Buenos Ayres" appears on Charles Drayton Gibbes' "Map of the
Southern Mines
The Stanislaus River is a tributary of the San Joaquin River in north-central California in the United States. The main stem of the river is long, and measured to its furthest headwaters it is about long. Originating as three forks in the high ...
" in 1852. An 1857 map of California shows the canyon was named Corral Hollow, but Buenos Ayres Creek, although
anglicise
Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influenc ...
d, remained with its old name. By 1873, a State Geological Survey map indicated the name change was complete to Corral Hollow Creek and Corral Hollow Pass.
Early settlements
California Historical Landmark
A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance.
Criteria
Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...
#755 indicates the site of the home of its first settler, Edward B. Carrell, which was built here at the former site of an Indian village. The men and animals received food and drink at Wright's Zink House, five hundred yards north of the landmark site.
California Landmark #755 (now missing) was located 1.5 miles west of I-580 on County Hwy J2, Corral Hollow Road. (Coordinates on this page mark that site.)
Carnegie and Tesla
Some miles up the Corral Hollow Road in the canyon is the site of the former town of Carnegie. A few miles on, beyond the Alameda County line where the road becomes the Tesla Road, is the site of coal mining that began in 1855, and later was the site of the former mining town of Tesla. Tesla appeared in 1889, as the San Francisco & San Joaquin Coal Company built the
Alameda and San Joaquin Railroad
The Alameda and San Joaquin Railroad was incorporated on May 1, 1895, to serve the coal mines of the San Francisco & San Joaquin Coal Company at Corral Hollow. The line ran from Tesla (located in the Corral Hollow canyon southeast of Corral H ...
line to the coal mines. When clay was discovered in the coal mine, the Carnegie Brick and Pottery Company was formed in 1902, and its plant built four miles east of Tesla, to make brick and terra cotta. In 1904, the Pottery sewer pipe plant was built between Carnegie and Tesla. Carnegie became a town with a population of about 300; Tesla had a population of over 1200. The towns were abandoned after a 1911 flood, which destroyed the railroad and workings and the Company could not afford to rebuild. The rail line from Carbona was abandoned by the
Western Pacific Railroad
The Western Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was formed in 1903 as an attempt to break the near-monopoly the Southern Pacific Railroad had on rail service into northern California. WP's Feather River Route dire ...
in January 1916. 99 years after the abandonment of the town, the unrelated
Tesla Factory
The Tesla Fremont Factory is an automobile manufacturing plant in Fremont, California, operated by Tesla, Inc. The facility opened as General Motors' Fremont Assembly in 1962, and was later operated by NUMMI, a GM–Toyota joint venture. Tes ...
began operating about 20 miles west of the location of the former town.
Upper Canyon
The canyon turns to the southwest beyond the site of Tesla and ascends into the hills back into San Joaquin County. After passing the site of Tesla, the Tesla Road turns northwestward and winds up the side of a canyon into the
Corral Hollow Pass
Corral Hollow Pass, originally Portezuela de Buenos Ayres (Pass of Good Winds) is a low mountain pass in the Diablo Range southeast of Livermore, in Alameda County, California. This pass, at an elevation of 1600 ft, was the point where El Cami ...
and crosses over to the Arroyo Seco, and follows it as it descends into the
Livermore Valley
The Livermore Valley, historically known as the Valle de San José (Valley of San José), is a valley in Alameda County, California, located in the East Bay region. The city of Livermore is located in the valley.
Geography
The valley is bound ...
Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area
Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area is a state park unit of California, U.S., providing off-roading opportunities in the Diablo Range. Located in southern Alameda and San Joaquin counties, it is one of eight state vehicular recreation ...
. The Carnegie town site partly within the Recreation Area; the rest is on the hillside on the north side of the Tesla Road where it intersects Carnegie Ridge Road.