Steve's folks have not lived here long and we realized we know very little about their new hometown. We went on a explore and discovered a great deal. For instance, in 1873 Basque sheep rancher Juan Murrieta bought 52,000 acres of ranch land for $52,000. Hence the name!
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| In 1885 Murrieta's train depot is built, and a town site
begins to grow around the nucleus of the depot. Pioneer families are
drawn by advertisements of land for as little as $5 an acre. In that
year, a 50'x 140' lot in the town site sold from $20 to $75. |
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| This once darling building served as Ray’s Murrieta Cafe (since 1950) and is now seemingly closed. It was purchased by Earnest Lakeman
in 1912, and was Lakeman’s Lunchroom and ice cream parlor, located on Highway 395. The unique portico was added in 1915, which gives it much more character.
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| This 1900 building housed the first post office, court house and general store. It is now a variety of shops and still very much there. |
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| Known as the Thompson/A.K.Small Home. The first occupants was the Henry Clay Thompson family. He was a widower with six
children. Originally a native of Kansas, he settled here in 1886
with his family. He established himself as a grain farmer and served as
one of the first supervisors of Riverside Co. The home was eventually
inherited by his daughter Edith who was the wife of Albert K. Small.
They operated the local general store in 1908, had the first automobiles in this area.
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This town was built by Midwestern farmers who came here to escape ravishing winters and to invest their sweat equity in sunny Southern California. Farms and businesses sprang up and it became a destination for travelers seeking entertainment and the healing powers of the hot springs. How interesting that my in-laws, Midwesterners with a farming background, found themselves here!
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1 comments:
That is my hood! You forgot to mention the K-12 school... The oldest school in that area. "Murrieta, fills our hearts and our minds. Through the years we've come together. Hand and hand..." Hmmm that's as much of our school song as I remember! Anyway, there is a lot of history in that old town. Thanks for sharing! The liquor store used to have a glass bottle opener inside. And the church across the street used to be the bank. And the gun store was a gun store. :)
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