About Temecula

Temecula is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, with a population of 100,097 according to the 2010 United States Census. It was incorporated on December 1, 1989. Temecula is bordered by the City of Murrieta to the north and the Pechanga Indian Reservation as well as the San Diego County line to the south. The City of Temecula forms the southwestern anchor of the Inland Empire region.

Temecula is nearly equidistant to San Diego, Los Angeles, and Orange County, California, and is served by Interstate 15 (Temecula Valley Freeway) and California State Route 79 (Winchester Road to the northeast and Temecula Parkway to the southeast). This proximity to three of southern California's main economic centers has earned the city the reputation with some as a commuter town.

The area was inhabited by the Temecula natives for many hundreds of years before their first meeting with the Spanish missionaries (the people are now generally known as the Luiseños, after the Mission San Luis Rey de Francia). The Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians believe their ancestors have lived in the Temecula area for more than 10,000 years. In Pechanga mythology, life on earth began in the Temecula Valley. They call it, "Exva Temeeku", the place of the union of Sky-father, and Earth-mother ("Tuukumit'pi Tamaayowit"). The Temecula Indians ("Temeekuyam") lived at "Temeekunga" – "the place of the sun".

In 1798, Spanish Missionaries established the Mission of San Luis Rey de Francia and designated the Indians living in the region "Sanluiseños", or shortened to "Luiseños". In the 1820s, the Mission San Antonio de Pala was built.

In 1904 Walter L. Vail, who had come to the United States with his parents from Nova Scotia, migrated to California. Along with various partners, he began buying land in Southern California. Vail bought ranchland in the Temecula Valley, buying 38,000 acres (154 km2) of Rancho Temecula and Rancho Pauba, along with the northern half of Rancho Little Temecula. Vail was killed by a street car in Los Angeles in 1906; his son, Mahlon Vail, took over the family ranch. In 1914, financed by Mahlon Vail and local ranchers, the First National Bank of Temecula opened on Front Street. In 1915, the first paved, two-lane county road was built through Temecula.

By 1947, the Vail Ranch contained over 87,500 acres (354 km2). In 1948, the Vail family built a dam to catch the Temecula Creek water and created Vail Lake. Through the mid-1960s the economy of the Temecula Valley centered around the Vail Ranch; the cattle business and agriculture were the stimuli for most business ventures. In 1964, the Vail Ranch was sold to Kaiser Land Development Company. A later purchase by the group brought the total area to 97,500 acres (395 km2), and the area became known as Rancho California. The I-15 corridor between Los Angeles County and San Diego was completed in the early 1980s and the subdivision land boom began. When Rancho California incorporated in December, 1989, the citizens voted to officially name their city "Temecula".