Murrieta Turns 20 Today: A Look Back

While its roots are deep in the valley, Murrieta didn't officially become a city until .

Those present at the time of incorporation said Murrieta was founded to keep its identity separate from Temecula, which incorporated in 1989 and was seeking to annex Murrieta.

But the story didn't begin there.

Named for the Murrieta family of Spain, the first to arrive was Esequial Murrieta in the 1870s. After purchasing 52,000 acres of land in the valley because it reminded him of his beloved Spain, Esequial returned home to marry, according to the city website.

He never returned, but his younger brother, Juan, did, bringing with him a flock of 100,000 sheep--a testament to the rich natural environment.

After the railroad came in 1882, some of the hot springs enjoyed by Natives for hundreds of years were incorporated into the Murrieta Hot Springs Resort near the turn of the century. The resort attracted celebrities, put locals to work, and gave Murrieta a spot on the map.

Fast forward 100 years, to when Interstate 15 was constructed through town. With freeway access to other parts of Southern California, the population began to rise.

In the 1970s, the population was still under 1,000. By 1980, it had reached 2,250. By 1987, it grew to 4,000, and by 1991, 24,000.

Longtime resident, Anne Lindsley, moved to Murrieta with her husband more than 28 years ago. They purchased a home with property in the Hogbacks, a rural area known to many as .

"I rode a motor scooter to work almost every day and never had a traffic signal or stop sign until I got to Palomar and Baxter Road," Lindsley said. She worked at convenience store in Wildomar at the time.

She also recalls riding horse back with her husband and neighbors under Interstate 215 to downtown Murrieta, "all the way along Murrieta Creek to the Circle H Ranch off Clinton Keith Road."

Lindsley said she has held onto the memories and photos of a simpler time in Murrieta.

"We feel blessed to have moved out here when we did...It's still a wonderful place to live, and we continue to preserve our way of life in a very secluded area of Murrieta, the Los Alamos Hills," Lindsley said.

Growing Up in Murrieta

Brenda Bieser, who mans the front desk at as part of the Economic Development Department, remembers a much smaller Murrieta.

Bieser moved to Murrieta from Oklahoma in 1971. Her father was in the Military and had been transferred to nearby Camp Pendleton.

"It was a pretty sleepy little town then," Bieser said.

She lived with her family on Ivy Street in what is now referred to as Historic Downtown Murrieta, and attended the only high school in the area, Elsinore High School.

When her parents moved away, Bieser stayed because she "had put down roots."

She recalls that in 1989, Temecula expressed interest in annexing Murrieta. Before Temecula incorporated in 1989, "there really wasn't a division of cities," she said.

The area was known as Rancho California. It was a master-planned, 97,500-acre community owned by Kaiser Aetna, projected for a build-out population of 100,000 in the 1980s, according to OldTemecula.com.

There was also a lack of law enforcement, Bieser said, so the U.S. Border Patrol, which has a long history in the area, would often keep the community in line.

Though law enforcement was at times lax, the Murrieta Fire Protection District had been formed in 1947. Its signature event, the Firemen's Deep Pit Barbecue, has been a community tradition every year since 1948.

Bieser said it has been an honor to grow up with the city and serve its residents. She is often the first face people see when they enter City Hall, and the first voice they hear when calling.

First City Planner

Stephen Harding was hired as the first planning director for the city when it incorporated, and its second city manager. These days, he still makes his home in Murrieta with his wife, Nancy. He is the city manager for Jurupa Valley, which ironically today is celebrating its very first day of cityhood.

"I was the eighth employee hired by the city," Harding said, as he recalled the humble beginnings of Murrieta.

Murrieta Hot Springs Road was two lanes then, but not for long.

The city's much smaller offices were located on Beckman Court until City Hall was relocated to its current site in 2005.

Harding worked as planning director for two years and city manager for four years. For the first one and a half years, his job was developing the city's first general plan.

"Part of the reason for not joining with Temecula was because Temecula wanted to emulate Orange County or Rancho Bernardo. Murrieta did not want that. They wanted to keep it rural," Harding, 61, said.

"Murrieta really wanted to control its own destiny. They were good guys; they all wanted to do what was right."

Harding played a large part in the acquisition of land that now houses Los Alamos Hills Sports Park and Vista Murrieta High School.

He said the original build-out for Murrieta under his watch was 60,000. The population now is more than 103,000, according to the latest census numbers.

But he said the recession in the '90s hit the city hard. Its plan for the Murrieta Springs mall in the Golden Triangle area was flattened when less-expensive land paved the way for Promenade Mall in Temecula. Many of the lessees for Murrieta's mall went there instead, he said.

A German spa was also planned, and would bring tourists to the city. But conflicts in Germany caused the foreign investors to back out, Harding said.

"We lost everything we planned in a short amount of time."

20 Years Later

With more than triple the population now, city leaders recently welcomed the opening of and plan to devote land near the hospital to accommodate medical research and office space.

Further, city officials are close to completing a general plan through the year 2035, much of which is through encouraging economic development.

Murrieta residents commute an average of 36.5 minutes to work, according to the latest study done by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Thus, Murrieta and Temecula have joined forces to create the "Twin Cities" initiative. Its purpose is to promote the region as an ideal place for companies to grow and thrive, resulting in job creation, city officials have stated.