 Walnut Creek was first known as "The Corners," where two roads leading from Pacheco and Lafayette met. This Corner is now known as the Mt. Diablo Boulevard and North Main Street intersection. The first settler of the area was William Slusher, who built a dwelling on the bank of Walnut Creek, which was then known as "Nuts Creek" in 1849. Today, Walnut Creek has been routed underneath downtown through a series of tunnels starting at the southwest end of Macy's and ending just southwest of The Cantina Restaurant. Slusher's dwelling was built in the area of modern-day Liberty Bell Plaza.
Milo Hough of Lafayette built the hotel named "Walnut Creek House" in the corners in 1855. A blacksmith shop and a store sprouted up, and a year later, Hiram Penniman (who built Shadelands Ranch) laid out the town site and realigned today's Main Street.
In December 1862 a U.S. Post Office was established, around which the community was named "Walnut Creek." The downtown street patterns laid out by pioneer Homer Shuey on a portion of one of his family's large cattle ranches in 1871-1872 are still present today.
On October 21, 1914, the town and the surrounding area of 500 acres (2 km²), were incorporated as the 8th city in Contra Costa County, California. Politically, Walnut Creek used to be a Republican stronghold, but is increasingly leaning Democratic.
Walnut Creek has recently undergone major development in its downtown area, which growing cities throughout the nation have looked to as a model.
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