Marsh Creek State Park in eastern Contra Costa County preserves a remarkable span of California history on part of the former Rancho Los Meganos. Archaeological evidence shows Native American life here going back at least 7,000 years, including Windmiller culture remains, later Meganos people, and associations with Volvone and Miwok groups, making it one of the state park system’s most important archaeological landscapes. In 1838 John Marsh acquired the rancho, became the first non-Hispanic European settler in what is now Contra Costa County, and made it a destination for overland emigrants. His stone Gothic Revival house, begun in 1853, later became the focus of preservation and restoration.