| Grayson Creek | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| Region | Contra Costa County, California |
| Cities | Pacheco, California, Pleasant Hill, California |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Briones Regional Park |
| • coordinates | 37°56′21″N 122°07′26″W / 37.93917°N 122.12389°W[1] |
| • elevation | 850 ft (260 m) |
| Mouth | Pacheco Slough |
• location | Pacheco, California |
• coordinates | 38°00′16″N 122°03′41″W / 38.00444°N 122.06139°W[1] |
• elevation | 20 ft (6.1 m) |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Grayson Creek West Fork |
| • right | Grayson Creek Middle Fork (aka Murderer's Creek), Grayson Creek East Fork |
Grayson Creek is a stream in Contra Costa County in northern California that flows northeasterly 7.4 miles (11.9 km)[2] from its origin in Briones Regional Park to Pacheco Slough four miles east of Martinez.[3][4] Pacheco Slough, in turn, connects to Suisun Bay. The Grayson Creek subwatershed is part of the Walnut Creek watershed and includes the cities of Pleasant Hill and Pacheco, California.
Grayson Creek West Fork begins at Briones Regional Park, crosses Grayson Road, and meanders through residential subdivisions until its confluence with Grayson Creek East Fork at Harriet Drive.
Grayson Creek East Fork parallels the East Bay Municipal Utility District Trail until Cleaveland Road, where it meanders through a field and residential subdivisions until its confluence with Grayson Creek Middle Fork at Gregory Lane.
Grayson Creek Middle Fork (aka Murderer's Creek or Murderous Creek) is a seasonal drainage creek also located in Pleasant Hill that begins at Briones Regional Park and meanders through residential subdivisions until its confluence with Grayson Creek East Fork. The term “Murderer’s Creek” was included by surveyors on an 1864 map, and although there are no historical sources that explain why the surveyors included this term, local lore is that at least one tree near this stream was used to murder Native Americans and that surveyors found a murdered Native American tribal member near the stream during their survey. The use of the term “Murderer’s Creek” has been long considered a negative and sensationalized reference, and the name "Grayson Creek Middle Fork" is often preferred today. Portions of the creek have disappeared, but it can be found meandering through several residential subdivisions below the hillside near Pleasant Hill Road and Withers Avenue, as well as near Boyd Road.
- ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Grayson Creek
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, accessed March 15, 2011
- ^ David L. Durham (1998). California's geographic names: a gazetteer of historic and modern names of the state. Quill Driver Books. p. 638. ISBN 978-1-884995-14-9. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
- ^ David L. Durham (2000). Durham's place names of the San Francisco Bay area: includes Marin, San. Quill Driver Books. p. 69. ISBN 978-1-884995-35-4. Retrieved 2010-07-27.