| Precita Creek | |
| Name Etymology: | Precita, the Spanish word meaning dam or weir[1] |
| Pushpin Map: | United States San Francisco#USA California#USA |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | United States |
| Subdivision Type2: | State |
| Subdivision Name2: | California |
| Subdivision Type3: | Counties |
| Subdivision Name3: | City and County of San Francisco |
| Subdivision Type5: | City |
| Subdivision Name5: | San Francisco |
| Length: | 3miles |
| Source1: | Market Street and 24th Street |
| Source1 Location: | Near Bernal Heights, City and County of San Francisco, California |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 37.7508°N -122.443°W |
| Source1 Elevation: | 486feet |
| Mouth: | Islais Creek[2] |
| Mouth Location: | Near Islais Creek, City & County of San Francisco, California[3] |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 37.7495°N -122.3973°W |
| Mouth Elevation: | 30feet |
Precita Creek is a small creek in the Bernal Heights and Mission District neighborhoods of San Francisco, California.[4] Its course is mirrored by the current Precita Avenue,[5] which ran along the creek when it was laid out sometime during the early 1850s.[6] The creek gets its name from precita, the Spanish word meaning dam or weir. The stream was buried before the beginning of the 20th century.
Starting near Market Street and 24th Street,[7] the old stream follows Precita Avenue and Cesar Chavez Street, ending in the Islais Creek’s estuarine bog near the intersection of Cesar Chavez Street and Evans Avenue. [8]
Precita Avenue was laid along the creek sometime during the early 1850s. In the area now called Precita Park, a village had developed by the 1860s. The village drew its water from an upstream portion of the creek and used the creek as an open sewer. Between the 1880s and the 1900s, Precita Creek was paved over to create Army Street (now Cesar Chavez Street).