Barron Creek | |
Dry Creek | |
stream | |
Country | United States |
---|---|
State | California |
Region | Santa Clara County |
Cities | Los Altos Hills, Los Altos, Palo Alto, California |
Source | |
- location | Los Altos Hills, California |
- elevation | 350 ft (107 m) |
- coordinates | 37°22′19″N 122°08′05″W / 37.37194°N 122.13472°W |
Mouth | Confluence with Adobe Creek just south of U.S. Highway 101 |
- location | Palo Alto, California |
- elevation | 10 ft (3 m) |
- coordinates | 37°26′02″N 122°06′33″W / 37.43389°N 122.10917°WCoordinates: 37°26′02″N 122°06′33″W / 37.43389°N 122.10917°W |
Barron Creek is a 5.8-mile-long (9.3 km) northward-flowing stream originating in the lower foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains in Los Altos Hills in Santa Clara County, California, United States. It courses northerly through the cities of Los Altos Hills, Los Altos, and Palo Alto, before joining Adobe Creek just south of U.S. Highway 101. As Adobe Creek its waters continue northwards to southwest San Francisco Bay after traversing Highway 101 and the Palo Alto Flood Basin.
In 1844 Rancho La Purisima Concepcion was sold to Juana Briones de Miranda, whose family members had accompanied both the Gaspar de Portolà and the Juan Bautista de Anza Expeditions. Her uniquely constructed wood-framed, rammed-earth and adobe brick house, believed to have been built by American desertee 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 (HABS).
After 1831, Mexican rancho owners would logically erect their dwellings on or very near creeks. Locally, Juanita Briones’ adobe was near Barron Creek.