Alhambra Creek is a stream in Contra Costa County, in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California. The creek drains into the Carquinez Strait at Martinez, via the historical Arroyo del Hambre. Alhambra Creek and its valley take their name from Cañada del Hambre, Spanish for "valley of hunger", apparently because of some …Alhambra Creek is a stream in Contra Costa County, in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California. The creek drains into the Carquinez Strait at Martinez, via the historical Arroyo del Hambre. Alhambra Creek and its valley take their name from Cañada del Hambre, Spanish for "valley of hunger", apparently because of some unknown incident involving starving Spanish soldiers. The name appears on diseños repeatedly and appears on an 1842 land grant, Rancho Cañada del Hambre y Las Bolsas. Although technically Alhambra Creek only refers to the upper section of 2 miles, and the United States Board on Geographic Names in 1943 confirmed Arroyo del Hambre as the name for the lower creek, Mrs. John Strentzel, John Muir's' mother-in-law, did not like the name and renamed the lower creek also as Alhambra Creek. Currently the entire creek is commonly called the Alhambra Creek, and Arroyo del Hambre Creek and Franklin Creek are considered its two tributaries.
Save
Share
More