A few miles east of the Desert Center, the Corn Springs Oasis is one of many famous historic sites in Riverside County. (Photo Credit: Steve Lech, Contributing Photographer)
Many people may not be aware, but Riverside County has a program to identify historic buildings throughout the county.
The Riverside County Historical Commission is responsible for keeping the list and adding places to it. The program began in 1967, less than a year after the commission was established. Let’s look at some of them.
white water
In its early days, Whitewater Ranch was owned and operated by Frank Smith, son of Pass area pioneer Dr. Isaac Smith. The ranch served the needs of the public traveling the old road to La Paz, Arizona, on the site of the current resting place in Whitewater. The ranch remained there until the 20th century, but was demolished in the 1980s for unknown reasons.
cone springs
Located in the low hills a few miles east of the Desert Center, Corn Springs has been the desert’s primary source of water for thousands of years. The hills around Cone Springs are dotted with petroglyphs depicting the importance of this water source to Native Americans.
Hemet Dam and Lake Hemet
High in the San Jacinto Mountains just west of the Garner Valley is Hemet Lake, created by the Hemet Dam. In the 1880s, several investors, led by William Whittier and Edward Mayberry, built the Hemet Dam as a source of water for the future development of the town of Hemet. It was recognized as an engineering feat and celebrated for several years.
John W. North Park
Located on Mission Inn Avenue on Vine Street, John W. North Park pays tribute to the founders of Riverside. North and his family settled his land in 1870 on what would become the park, and it was there in the spring of 1871 that the first water from the newly built canal reached Riverside.
Elsinore Santa Fe Station
Located on Graham and Spring Streets in the heart of downtown Lake Elsinore, this old train station was built in 1896 and is one of the few surviving stations in Riverside County. At the time of its construction, Elsinore was only on a branch of the Santa Fe River, but even that was removed by the late 1920s. However, the station survived and is now used by the Lake Elsinore Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Pinacart and Pinacart Mining District
The town of Pinacate was established around 1882 to serve the mining district just to the west. But it only existed for a little over a decade. A number of factors caused most of the townspeople to relocate north to the new town of Perris. The Pinacart site is roughly the same location as the Southern California Railroad Museum today.
These are just a few of the many landmarks that Riverside County has put together. We’ll have more to say in the next few weeks.
If you have ideas for future “Back in the Day” columns about local historical people, places and events, please contact Steve Lech and Kim Jarrell Johnson at backinthedaype@gmail.com.
