About Murrieta

Murrieta is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The population of Murrieta was 103,466 at the 2010 census. Murrieta experienced a 233.7% population increase between 2000 and 2010, according to the most recent census, making Murrieta one of the fastest growing cities in the state. This population boom in 2010 surpassed the population of the historically larger and more commercial city of Temecula to the south for the first time since the incorporation of either city. Temecula and Murrieta together form the southwestern anchor of the Inland Empire region. Largely residential in character, Murrieta is typically characterized as a commuter town, with many of its residents commuting to jobs in San Diego County, Orange County, Los Angeles County, Temecula, and Camp Pendleton due to the fact that it is nearly equidistant to these economic centers.

Murrieta is bordered by Temecula to the south and the newly incorporated cities of Menifee and Wildomar to the north.

Murrieta is distinct from Rancho Murieta, a census-designated place (CDP) and guard-gated community in Sacramento County, California, United States.

Esequial Murrieta is credited with founding Murrieta. He is unrelated to Southern California bandit Joaquin Murrieta.

For most of its history Murrieta was not heavily populated. A Spaniard, Esequial Murrieta, purchased the Rancho Pauba and Rancho Temecula Mexican land grants, comprising 52,000 acres (210 km2) in the area, intending to bring his sheep-raising business to California. He returned to Spain, however, and turned the land over to his younger brother, Juan (1844–1936), who brought 100,000 sheep to the valley in 1873, using the meadows to feed his sheep. Others discovered the valley after the construction of a depot in 1882 that connected Murrieta to the Southern California Railroad's transcontinental route. By 1890 some 800 people lived in Murrieta. Today much of the site (about 50 acres) is home to a Bible college and conference center, owned by Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, which has invested millions of dollars into restoring and rebuilding the old resort rooms. When the trains stopped in 1935, tourists – the lifeblood of the town – were much harder to come by. The boom that Murrieta had experienced due to the train and the hot springs gradually died, leaving Murrieta as a small country town.