Situated
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.
Wildomar
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
. . .
Bob 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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