Pilarcitos Creek rises on the western slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains and flows through Pilarcitos Canyon to reach the Pacific at Half Moon Bay State Beach. On October 28, 1769, the Portolà expedition camped beside it and Father Juan Crespí named it Arroyo de San Simon y San Judas, for that day’s feast.
The name that stuck, Arroyo de los Pilarcitos, means creek of the little pillar-like rocks, and appears in land-grant papers by 1836. The creek once divided two ranchos: Corral de Tierra to the north and Miramontes to the south.
Today the watershed supplies drinking water and supports farming and tourism, and local groups have worked since 1992 on its restoration. The 1900 Main Street bridge crosses it.
More on this site: history