Corral Hollow facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Corral Hollow |
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| El Arroyo de los Buenos Ayres | |
 Corral Hollow
Location in California
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| Floor elevation | 121 m (397 ft) |
| Geography | |
| Location | Alameda and San Joaquin counties, California |
| Traversed by | Corral Hollow Creek |
| Reference #: | 755 |
Corral Hollow, formed by Corral Hollow Creek, is a canyon partially located in Alameda County, with parts in San Joaquin County, 6.5 miles (10.5 km) southwest of Tracy, California. Corral Hollow Creek, formerly El Arroyo de los Buenos Ayres (The Creek of the Good Winds), from its source 1.9 miles (3.1 km) north of Mount Boardman, flows north 1.89 miles where it turns to flow west-northwest 8.5 miles (13.7 km) then turns abruptly east in the vicinity of Tesla to flow 5 miles (8.0 km) east where it turns again in a northeasterly direction for 6 miles (9.7 km) to the Delta-Mendota Canal in the San Joaquin Valley.
History
Name of the Canyon
The El Camino Viejo, passed to the west through the canyon of El Arroyo de los Buenos Ayres over the Portezuela de Buenos Ayres (Pass of Good Winds) to the Arroyo Seco and the Livermore Valley. The '49ers passed through the canyon now named Corral Hollow on their way to the gold fields as did the first mail to the Tuolumne mines. The name change was perhaps because at its mouth there was a large corral for catching wild horses. This "caral" was mentioned in the California Star on March 18, 1848:
- "We are credibly informed...that a number countrymen with several Californians are actively engaged in building an extensive caral, or enclosure, in the valley of the river San Joaquin, for the purpose of capturing wild horses. The caral...will enclose twenty-five acres of land..."
However the name of the Creek did not change for some time. The name "Arroyo Buenos Ayres" appears on the Charles Drayton Gibbes' "Map of the Southern Mines" in 1852. However an 1857 Map Of The State Of California shows the canyon was named Corral Hollow, but Buenos Aryes Creek, although anglicised, remained with its old name. By 1873 a State Geological Survey map indicated the name change was complete to Corral Hollow Creek and Corral Hollow Pass.
Early settlements
California Historical Landmark #755, indicates the site of the home of its first settler, Edward B. Carrell, which was built here at the former site of an Indian village. The men and animals received food and drink at Wright's Zink House, five hundred yards north of the landmark site. California Landmark
Carnegie and Tesla
Some miles up the Corral Hollow Road in the canyon is the site of the former town of Carnegie. A few miles on, beyond the Alameda County line where the road becomes the Tesla Road, is the site of coal mining that began in 1855, and later was the site of the former mining town of Tesla. Tesla appeared in 1889, as the San Francisco & San Joaquin Coal Company built the Alameda and San Joaquin Railroad line to the coal mines. When clay was discovered in the coal mine, the Carnegie Brick and Pottery Company was formed in 1902, its plant built four miles east of Tesla, to make brick and terra cotta. In 1904, the Pottery sewer pipe plant was built between Carnegie and Tesla. Carnegie became a town with a population of about 300, Tesla had a population of over 1200. The towns were abandoned after a 1911 flood, which destroyed the railroad and workings and the Company could not afford to rebuild. The rail line from Carbona was abandoned by the Western Pacific Railroad in January 1916.
Upper Canyon
The canyon turns to the southwest beyond the site of Tesla and ascends into the hills back into San Joaquin County. After passing the site of Tesla, the Tesla Road turns northwestward and winds up the side of a canyon into the Corral Hollow Pass and crosses over to the Arroyo Seco, and follows it as it descends into the Livermore Valley.
Today
Today the former town site of Tesla is within the Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area. The Carniege town site partly within the Recreation Area, the rest is on the hillside on the north side of the Tesla Road where it intersects Carnegie Ridge Road.
