Barron Creek
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Barron Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. , accessed November 13, 2011 northward-flowing stream originating in the lower foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains in
Los Altos Hills Los Altos Hills (; ''Los Altos'', Spanish for "The Heights") is an incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population was 8,489 at the 2020 census. The town is known for its affluence and expensive residential rea ...
in
Santa Clara County, California Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259, as of the 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring San Benito County together ...
, United States. It courses northerly through the cities of Los Altos Hills and
Palo Alto Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was es ...
, before joining Adobe Creek just south of U.S. Highway 101. As Adobe Creek, its waters continue northwards to southwest San Francisco Bay after crossing under Highway 101 and traversing the Palo Alto Flood Basin.


History

In 1844 Rancho La Purisima Concepcion was sold to
Juana Briones de Miranda Juana Briones de Miranda (c. 1802 – 1889) was a Californio ranchera, medical practitioner, and merchant, often remembered as the "Founding Mother of San Francisco", for her noted involvement in the early development of the city of San Francisc ...
, whose family members had accompanied both the
Gaspar de Portolà Gaspar is a given and/or surname of French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish origin, cognate to Casper (given name) or Casper (surname). It is a name of biblical origin, per Saint Gaspar, one of the wise men mentioned in the Bible. Notable peo ...
and the
Juan Bautista de Anza Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto (July 6 or 7, 1736 – December 19, 1788) was an expeditionary leader, military officer, and politician primarily in California and New Mexico under the Spanish Empire. He is credited as one of the founding fa ...
Expeditions. Her uniquely constructed wood-framed, rammed-earth and adobe brick house, believed to have been built by American deserter sailors, is located at 4155 Old Adobe Road on the border between Palo Alto and Los Altos Hills, and is marked by a historical marker at the corner of Old Adobe Road and Old Trace Lane. Designated a California State Historical Landmark in 1954, the 160-year-old Juana Briones home was scheduled for demolition in 2007 because of damage to it by the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. In 2009, it still stands and has been recently documented with a
Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...
(HABS). After 1831, Mexican rancho owners would logically erect their dwellings on or very near creeks. Locally, Juanita Briones's adobe was near Barron Creek. In 1853, Elisha Crosby bought a 250-acre parcel of Rancho Santa Rita, really Rancho Rincon de San Francisquito, from the Robles family in 1853 and named it Mayfield Farm. This would later become Barron Park after Edward Barron.


Watershed and course

Barron Creek drains about , arising at in
Los Altos Hills, California Los Altos Hills (; ''Los Altos'', Spanish for "The Heights") is an incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population was 8,489 at the 2020 census. The town is known for its affluence and expensive residential rea ...
. It is the most modified creek in the Lower Peninsula Watershed, with 67% of its course classified as "hardened", meaning that most (but not all) of its course north of Foothill Expressway is in a concrete channel to its confluence with Adobe Creek. When there are heavy storm flows, the Barron Creek Diversion Channel, originating just north of Foothill Expressway, is used to divert heavy storm flows from the creek to Matadero Creek. Barron Creek, alternatively known as Dry Creek, was tributary to Matadero Creek on the 1862 Allardt Map and the 1899 Topo Map. In the 1940s, it was diverted along its own channel across Palo Alto, eventually joining Adobe Creek near the Bayshore Highway. Barron Creek is long, originating in the Los Altos Hills foothills at elevation along La Paloma Road (just north of Alta Tierra Road), then flowing north along La Paloma Road, where it is joined by a Concepcion Road fork at Fremont Road and proceeds along Fremont Road behind Pinewood School, before turning northeasterly along Arastradero Road where it is joined by another minor fork originating in ''Esther Clark Park''. After crossing
Foothill Expressway There are 21 routes assigned to the "G" zone of the California Route Marker Program, which designates county routes in California. The "G" zone includes county highways in Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz ...
it is buried in an underground pipe just west of
Gunn High School Henry M. Gunn Senior High School is one of two public high schools in Palo Alto, California, the other being Palo Alto High School. Established in , Gunn High School was named after Henry Martin Gunn, who served as the Palo Alto superintendent fr ...
but sees daylight where the creek crosses Bol Park Bike Path in a small, man-made flood control basin, then at Laguna Avenue again enters an underground pipe running beneath Los Robles Avenue to El Camino Real. Barron Creek has been greatly modified for flood control purposes; the creek bed downstream from El Camino Real is a concrete trapezoidal channel. In the 1800s, the Baylands marshes ended just north of Alma in Palo Alto, which explains why historical maps show area creeks appearing to terminate before they reach the Bay. Duck-hunting blinds were common in the nineteenth century along what is now Middlefield Road.


Habitat and wildlife

No native fishes have been reported in the creek, save in its tidal reaches. Leidy reported no fish in a 1981 sampling, although both Adobe Creek and Matadero Creek are historic
Steelhead trout Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the common name of the anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout or redband trout (O. m. gairdneri). Steelhead are native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific basin in Northeast Asia and ...
(''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') streams.


Trails and recreation

Barron Creek is best seen at the Sedimentation Basin between
Gunn High School Henry M. Gunn Senior High School is one of two public high schools in Palo Alto, California, the other being Palo Alto High School. Established in , Gunn High School was named after Henry Martin Gunn, who served as the Palo Alto superintendent fr ...
and the Regional Bikepath, which crosses the creek on a bridge across the middle of the basin.


See also

*
List of watercourses in the San Francisco Bay Area These watercourses (rivers, creeks, sloughs, etc.) in the San Francisco Bay Area are grouped according to the bodies of water they flow into. Tributaries are listed under the watercourses they feed, sorted by the elevation of the confluence so tha ...


References


External links

* * * * * {{Santa Cruz Mountains Rivers of Santa Clara County, California Santa Cruz Mountains Rivers of Northern California Tributaries of Adobe Creek (Santa Clara County) Los Altos, California