Purisima Creek (Santa Clara County)

Purisima Creek is a 2-mile-long (3.2 km)[3] eastward-flowing stream originating in Los Altos Hills in Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is a tributary of Adobe Creek which it joins just after entering Los Altos.

This article is about Purisima Creek (Santa Clara County). For Purisima Creek (San Mateo County), see Purisima Creek (San Mateo County).
Purisima Creek
Purissima Creek[1]
Purisima Creek with water in late August (2010) just above O'Keefe Lane. Note invasive non-native Siberian Elm (Ulmus pumila).
Location
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
RegionSanta Clara County
CitiesLos Altos Hills, Los Altos
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationLos Altos Hills, California
 • coordinates37°21′38″N 122°08′56″W[1]
 • elevation640 ft (200 m)[2]
MouthConfluence with Adobe Creek
 • location
Los Altos, California
 • coordinates
37°22′04″N 122°07′04″W[1]
 • elevation
239 ft (73 m)[1]

History
Packard Pathway descends from Taafe Road along Purisima Creek's north fork.

Purisima Creek runs through the historic Rancho La Purísima Concepción land grant, which was granted by Governor Alvarado in 1840 to Jose Gorgonio, an Indian living at Mission Santa Clara de Asís. In 1844 Gorgonio sold the one square league Rancho La Purísima Concepción to Juana Briones de Miranda (1804–1889), the daughter of Marcos Briones, who accompanied Junípero Serra in 1769. Gudde's "California Place Names" incorrectly asserted that there was no namesake for the land grant in Santa Clara County.[4] Juana Briones sold about three quarters of her rancho in 1861 to Martin Murphy Jr. (1807–1884) of Sunnyvale, who had come to California with the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party in 1844.[5][6]

One of the founders of Hewlett-Packard, David Packard, lived on the upper watershed of Purisima Creek on a property with a large apricot orchard. The orchard is now preserved by the town and the Packard Foundation.[7]

Watershed and course
Purisima Creek entering Los Altos after passing under O'Keefe Lane, just above its confluence with Adobe Creek
Purisima Creek at the bottom of the Packard Pathway at Elena Road, Los Altos Hills

Purisima Creek consists of two minor forks (a north and west fork) which embrace the apricot orchards now owned by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. The creek's source is at the top of the west fork between Dezahara Way and Altamont Road. The "Packard Pathway" is a public walking and riding path that descends the north fork from its origin below the Packards' Taafe House on Taafe Road. At the base of the property the two forks come together to form the creek mainstem which levels out as it passes through the remains of an old walnut grove, then crosses Elena Road, flowing along Josefa Lane and the northwestern edge of Foothill College to where it passes under I-280, then along O'Keefe Lane and the O'Keefe Open Space Preserve to its confluence with Adobe Creek just inside Los Altos.

Habitat and wildlife
Native California Wild Rose (Rosa californica) on Purisima Creek just above Elena Road in Los Altos Hills, California.

There O'Keefe Open Space Preserve protects the riparian habitat along an 800-foot (240 m) section of the creek below I-280. It is an 8.2-acre (3.3 ha) nature preserve. This section of the creek has been invaded by non-native species that compete with the native vegetation for its water, including Canary Island palm (Phoenix canariensis), common fig (Ficus carica), plum (Prunus), blue gum eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus), European olive (Olea europaea) and Siberian elm (Ulmus pumila).[8][9]

See also

References
  1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Purisima Creek
  2. Mindego Hill, CA, 7.5 Minute Topographic Quadrangle, USGS, 1955 (1960 rev.)
  3. U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed June 25, 2011
  4. Erwin G. Gudde; William Bright (2004). California Place Names: The Origins and Etymology of Current Geographic Names. University of California Press. p. 304. ISBN 978-0-520-24217-3. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
  5. J. P. Munro-Fraser, 1881, History of Santa Clara County, California, Alley, Bowen & Co, San Francisco
  6. "Biography of Martin Murphy, Jr" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-25. Retrieved 2011-06-26.
  7. Noel, Clyde (2000-04-04). "Packard Trust to keep apricot orchard as conservation easement". Los Altos Town Crier. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  8. Ryan Gerlach; Mark Heath; Reuben Pillsbury; Sue Welch (2008-04-18). O'Keefe Open Space Preserve Restoration Proposal (Report). Los Altos Hills.
  9. "Map of the O'Keefe Property". Retrieved 2011-06-25.
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