Wildomar CA Chamber of Commerce



" The Doors of Tradition
     Open to the Future"




 

 

Wildomar History

Historic Wildomar CASituated in Southwest Riverside County, Wildomar was founded in 1886 with the establishment of the Wildomar Post Office and Wildomar Elementary School.

The name "Wildomar" was coined from the names of its three founders: The WIL is from William Collier, the DO is from Donald Graham and the MAR is from Margaret Collier.

Historic Wildomar CAWildomar had been an outpost for the pony express for the Butterfield Stage, and in the early part of this century, a stop for the Southern California Railroad. The original Chamber logo represents the three profiles of the founders and the stagecoach.

 


The little building that could be whatever the community wanted . . .

The Chamber of Commerce in Wildomar, CABob Cashman
Wildomar Historical Society

You may have seen it near the corner of Mission Trail and Corydon, a small unassuming building. It is one of the oldest public buildings in the area. The building, currently leased by the Wildomar Chamber of Commerce, has served the community of Wildomar in one capacity or another for over a hundred years.

The center section of the building was originally designed and used as a one-room schoolhouse. The back portion of the building was the living quarters for the teacher. Originally on Lemon Street, the building was moved to its present location in 1895.

The location was selected because the railroad tracks ran behind the building. The building was to be a stop for the railroad. The adobe closet still attached at the back of the building was built to hold the safe, which could only be accessed from inside the building.

Once the railroad no longer ran through Wildomar, the building found other uses. It was subsequently converted to be the water district headquarters for the valley. In the 1966 - 1967 time period, the two wings were added on to the building to accommodate the needs of the growing area.

The public entered through the left wing to the main room where chairs and desks lined the wall. The superintendent had an office in the right wing. This was also the location of the console that had phone line connections to the various phone activated systems operated by the water district. The safe in the back room was then used to hold checks and money for the district. The building became the operations office for work in the field, repair, installation of new water lines and so forth.

When the EVMWD moved to its new office on Chaney Street, the building and the adjacent customer service building were abandoned. In 1993, the Wildomar Chamber of Commerce signed a lease on the building with the intent of making partial restoration of the building and using it for its’ headquarters. The Animal Friends of the Valleys (then called LEAF) & the Wildomar Chamber brought the building back into a serviceable condition. These two agencies have shared the building ever since that time.

 


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