Murrieta

History

The Luiseño people founded the village of Avaa7ax or 'Avaa'ax where Murrieta stands today. For most of its history, Murrieta was not heavily populated. On June 9, 1873, Domingo Pujol, Francisco Sanjurjo, and Juan and Ezequiel Murrieta purchased the Rancho Pauba and Rancho Temecula Mexican land grants, comprising in the area. Ezequiel returned to Spain and turned the land over to his younger brother, Juan Murrieta (1844–1936), who brought 7,000 sheep to the valley in 1873, using the meadows to feed his sheep. The partnership dissolved in 1876 and Ezequiel and Juan Murrieta retained 15,000 acres of the northern half of the Temecula Rancho. Ezequiel and Juan Murrieta granted a right-of-way, one hundred feet wide to the California Southern Railroad through the Temecula Rancho on April 28, 1882, so that the railroad could be constructed through the valley. In 1884, the Temecula Land and Water Company purchased about 14,500 acres from Juan Murrieta and mapped a townsite along the California Southern Railroad. Others discovered the valley after the construction of a depot in 1887 that connected Murrieta to the Southern California Railroad's transcontinental route. By 1890, some 800 people lived in Murrieta. Today much of the site (about 50 acres) is home to a Bible college and conference center, owned by Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, which has invested millions of dollars into restoring and rebuilding the old resort rooms. When the trains stopped in 1935, tourists—the lifeblood of the town—were much harder to come by. The boom that Murrieta had experienced due to the train and the hot springs gradually died, leaving Murrieta as a small country town. Although US Route 395 had passed through Murrieta, it was not until Interstate 15 was built in the early 1980s that another…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which 99.89% of it is land and 0.11% is covered by water. Murrieta Creek runs southeasterly through the Murrieta Valley. Warm Springs Creek is a tributary of Murrieta Creek that also passes through the city. Murrieta has a Mediterranean climate or dry-summer subtropical (Köppen climate classification Csa). Murrieta has an average of 263 sunshine days and 35 days with measurable precipitation annually.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  6,926
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  5,881
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,946
• Anna's Hummingbird

  Calypte anna (R.Lesson, 1829) · Aves
  4,905
• Lesser Goldfinch

  Spinus psaltria (Say, 1822) · Aves
  4,761
• Black Phoebe

  Sayornis nigricans (Swainson, 1827) · Aves
  4,723
• California Towhee

  Melozone crissalis (Vigors, 1839) · Aves
  4,018
• White-crowned Sparrow

  Zonotrichia leucophrys (J.R.Forster, 1772) · Aves
  3,716

Largest nearby schools

• River Springs Charter
  Other · Temecula · 6,886 students · 26.4:1 ratio
• Vista Murrieta High
  High · Murrieta · 3,493 students · 24.6:1 ratio
• Chaparral High
  High · Temecula · 3,030 students · 25.7:1 ratio
• Temecula Valley High
  High · Temecula · 2,864 students · 25.1:1 ratio
• Paloma Valley High
  High · Menifee · 2,761 students · 24.4:1 ratio
• Murrieta Valley High
  High · Murrieta · 2,230 students · 23.5:1 ratio
• Murrieta Mesa High
  High · Murrieta · 2,178 students · 22.9:1 ratio
• Elsinore High
  High · Wildomar · 2,122 students · 25:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.77 — 2026-10-15
  3 km NNW of San Jacinto, CA
• M 2.71 — 2026-10-11
  4 km E of San Jacinto, CA
• M 3.16 — 2026-10-09
  2 km SW of Signal Hill, CA
• M 2.7 — 2026-10-08
  2 km WNW of Fontana, CA
• M 2.6 — 2026-10-06
  4 km NNW of Big Bear City, CA
• M 2.51 — 2026-10-05
  31 km SW of Dana Point, CA