Menifee has a history

Tuesday, 13 May 2014 00:00

Menifee has a history

Many families residing in Menifee have questions about the history of the place they now call home. The families that have lived here their whole lives or have family roots here have stories of how it all began. Centrally located in southwestern Riverside County, Menifee is rich in history. Dated back to the 18th century, the land was originally inhabited by the Luiseno people, specifically the Pechanga band. The area fell under the Spanish rule surrendered by Mexico to the United States in 1850 as a result of the Mexican-American War. Mining during the early 1880's brought a discovery of significant quartz lode by miner Luther Menifee Wilson, which is where Menifee received its name. During the 19th century, farming was also common among the valley. Gold, silica, feldspar, and pink quartz were all part of the land. Families such as the Kirkpatrick, Newport, and Zeider's all followed and would become part of the Menifee history.

Around the early 1960's, a contractor from Phoenix, Arizona by the name of Delbert "Del" Eugene Webb, had a concept of designing an active 55+ retirement community in the middle of the area of Menifee. This became a CDP (census designated place), meaning an area of concentrated population identified by the United States for statistics, not legally incorporated under laws. Del being a big fan of golf, having played with Bing Crosby, Howard Hughes, Bob Hope, and Robert and Barry Goldwater, designed the master planned community of Sun City with two golf courses, two recreation centers, and retail shops. It consisted of a 4 square mile mix of residential and commercial activity. He built other "Sun City" communities with the same concept in Arizona, Nevada, and Florida in the 1970's and 80's. The average household in Sun City, CA in the year 2000 was 2-3 people. With 8,750 households the population was 17,773.

Menifee as a whole began to grow during the 1980's into the early 90's. Development boomed and another master planned community on the southeast edge of Sun City began with one square mile of homes, retail shops, schools, golf, and tennis. The lack of resources available would drive residents to shop, dine, and work in neighboring cities of Temecula and Murrieta. With the continuous rapid growth and new home construction with large lakes and fine amenities, it attracted residents from the Inland Empire and Los Angeles to the area to settle. By 2005, there were 27,461 households with the average size of the family being 3-4 people. June 3, 2008 residents of the communities covering the Menifee area voted to incorporate together to become Riverside County's 26th city. On October 1st, 2008 Menifee, Sun City, Quail Valley, Paloma Valley, and portions of Romoland were all integrated into one city, Menifee. Wallace Edgerton, Darcy Kuenzi, Frederick Twyman, III, Scott A. Mann, and John Denver would be the first 5 city council members with Wallace being the Mayor. By 2010, the city's population grew to 77,519 with the expected population to be an estimated 100,000 residents by the year 2020 and the area being over 50 square miles. In 2012, Scott Mann was elected as Mayor. Menifee has 4 fire departments that go through the Riverside County Fire Department in agreement with Cal Fire. The police department goes through Riverside County Sheriff's Department through the Perris Valley station. Elementary and Middle school education is through the Menifee Union School District and Romoland School District. High school education is through Perris Union High School District, which includes the oldest being Paloma Valley High School established in 1995 and Heritage High School added in 2007. Retail shopping, restaurants, chain and small business owners continue to expand the area. While the old residents have established the town, new residents are creating and maintaining the growth. Menifee still grows.

Celebrating their 10th year anniversary, Menifee Valley Historical Association welcomes you to visit www.menifeehistory.com for more information on the history of Menifee.