It was named Arroyo de las Ánimas Benditas (Creek of the Blessed Souls) by explorers Louis Juchereau de St. Denis and Domingo Ramón in 1716 and was known by variations of that name throughout the Spanish colonial period. It was the site of several of the earliest communities in the county. The battle of Brushy Creek occurred near its banks in 1839. The banks of the stream are heavily wooded for much of its length with mesquite and hardwood trees, and the creek flows through nearly level to gently rolling terrain surfaced by clayey and loamy soils used predominantly for agriculture.

Brushy Creek is dammed just east of the Ruby Hotel, near Veterans Park, creating the small lake on the north side of the property. Cattle can often be seen roaming along the northern banks and water birds nest in the large trees in the mornings.