Marsh Creek State Park (California)

Marsh Creek State Park
John Marsh House in Marsh Creek State Park, California
Location	Contra Costa County, California
Nearest city	Brentwood, California
Area	3,659 acres (14.81 km2)
Designation	State park
Designated	January 27, 2012 (2012-01-27)
Governing body	East Bay Regional Park District

Marsh Creek State Historic Park is a California state park in east Contra Costa County, California, United States. It was named as the newest California State Park on January 27, 2012. The newly named park (formerly called the Cowell Ranch/John Marsh State Park) contains 3,659 acres (1,481 ha) and is about 3.3 miles (5.3 km) south of downtown Brentwood. It is not open to the public as of January 2015. No opening date has been announced.

The park is named for California pioneer John Marsh (1799–1856), who was a doctor, rancher, landowner and the first non-Hispanic European to settle in what is now Contra Costa County, California. Marsh was the first medical doctor in California, the first Harvard graduate in the territory, the first to introduce a number of new crops, and one of the most influential men in the establishment of California statehood.

Marsh, a widower, was a native of Massachusetts, who had previously lived in Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri and New Mexico before settling in Los Angeles, California. In 1838, he acquired Rancho Los Meganos in northern California. The ranch covered over 80 square miles (21,000 ha), and extended over 8 miles (13 km) to the San Joaquin River, where Marsh's Landing was built (near present-day Antioch California). The park covers a portion of this former rancho. Marsh reportedly paid $300 in cowhides for the land. The John Marsh House was added to the National Register of Historic Places (Reference Number 71000136) under Criteria A, B and C on October 7, 1971.

Archaeologists have found that Native Americans lived in the East Contra Costa County area at least 7,000 years ago. Some of the groups identified with the area are the Volvone and the Miwoks. Excavations have turned up human remains and other historical items that confirm this. Some burial sites have been identified. The park planners intend to protect these cultural sites that lie within the park boundaries.

State Park Senior Archaeologist, Rick Fitzgerald, led a group of Sacramento archaeologists on a tour of a Marsh Creek archaeology site on April 10, 2010. The earliest inhabitants are largely unknown, but left the area about 5300 years ago. Another group of people, known as the "Windmillers" appeared at Marsh Creek about 4000 years ago.