French Valley is a region located in southwestern Riverside County, near the cities and communities of Hemet, Winchester, Murrieta, and Temecula in the state of California, United States. It is part of the Plains of Leon, contiguous with the Perris Plain, that drains into the Temecula Basin by means of tributaries of the Santa Margarita River.
Since the late 1800s, the French Valley was home to French grain farmers and sheepherders. After the Franco-Prussian War and the Alsace becoming German, many French-speaking residents fled to America. Among the early settlers of the French Valley were Auguste Giagnaire, Jean Labrucheie and Alexandre, Auguste and Calixte Vial, the Pourroys and the Nicolases. The train network eventually reached Temecula and Murrieta, but not the area inhabited by the French. The first use of the name "French Valley" occurred in 1913 in a California Conservation Commission report. [1]
A traditional lifestyle was maintained until 1964 when the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California acquired 6,000 acres of land to build the Skinner Reservoir that started operating in 1976. Many ranches were immersed in the new lake. [1]
In 1989, the French Valley Airport was inaugurated. It was built on the land of the Borel family. In 1993, a jail opened, and later became the Southwest Justice Center. [1]
In 2007, 702 acres of the French Valley were designated as a wildlife area by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. [2]
According to the U.S. Geographic Names Information System, the valley runs from its head at 33°39′06″N117°04′25″W / 33.6516902°N 117.0736395°W to its mouth at 33°35′45″N117°07′30″W / 33.5958583°N 117.1250307°W . [3]
Other places nearby include the Skinner Reservoir in the Lake Skinner Park, and Diamond Valley Lake.
French Valley is located within 10 minutes of nearby cities Temecula and Murrieta as well as the 15 and 215 freeways. French Valley is also less than 15 minutes from the Temecula Valley Wine Country and Old Town Temecula. The nearby French Valley Airport is named after the valley.
French Valley is considered to be in the greater Inland Empire region of Southern California. It boasts mild winters with highs in the 60s (°F) and overnight lows in the 40s (°F). The summers are very warm with temperatures averaging 102 °F (39 °C) but sometimes soaring up to 107 °F (42 °C).
French Valley's schools are in the Temecula Valley Unified School District.
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Murrieta is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The population of Murrieta was 103,466 at the 2010 census. Murrieta experienced a 133.7% population increase between 2000 and 2010, according to the most recent census, making Murrieta one of the fastest-growing cities in the state. This population boom in 2010 surpassed the population of the historically larger and more commercial city of Temecula to the south for the first time since the incorporation of either city. Temecula and Murrieta together form the southwestern anchor of the Inland Empire region. Largely residential in character, Murrieta is typically characterized as a commuter town, with many of its residents commuting to jobs in San Diego County, Orange County, Los Angeles County, Temecula, and Camp Pendleton.
Murrieta Hot Springs is a neighborhood in the eastern region of Murrieta, California, which was annexed on July 1, 2002. Prior to annexation, Murrieta Hot Springs was a Census-designated place of Riverside County, California. The population was 2,948 at the 2000 census.
Temecula is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The city is a tourist and resort destination, with the Temecula Valley Wine Country, Old Town Temecula, the Temecula Valley Polo Club, the Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival, the Temecula Valley International Film Festival, championship golf courses, and resort accommodations for tourists which contribute to the city's economic profile.
Area code 951 is a California telephone area code that was split from area code 909 on July 17, 2004. It covers western Riverside County, including the cities and communities of Beaumont, Corona, Canyon Lake, Riverside, Temescal Canyon, Woodcrest, Arlington, Moreno Valley, Perris, Menifee, Lake Elsinore, Wildomar, Murrieta, Temecula, San Jacinto, Hemet, Lakeview, Nuevo, Norco, Banning, Eastvale, Jurupa Valley, and Idyllwild.
Menifee is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, and part of the Los Angeles Combined Statistical Area. The city is centrally located in the heart of Southern California, almost 15 miles (24 km) north of Temecula and bordering the city of Murrieta. Menifee is roughly 46 square miles (100 km2) in size and has an elevation of 1,424 feet (434 m). The incorporated City of Menifee includes the communities of Sun City, Quail Valley, Paloma Valley, and Romoland.
Skinner Reservoir, also known as Lake Skinner, is a reservoir in western Riverside County, California, located at the foot of Bachelor Mountain in the Auld Valley, approximately 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Temecula. It was created in 1973 by the construction of the Skinner Clearwell Dam on Tucalota Creek, and currently has a capacity of 44,200 acre feet (54,500,000 m3). Located just off Rancho California Road, The address of the reservoir is: 37701 Warren Road, Temecula, CA 92592.
The Temecula Valley is a graben rift valley in western Riverside County, California.
Temecula Creek, formerly known as the Temecula River, runs 32.6 miles (52.5 km) through southern Riverside County, California, United States, past the rural communities of the Temecula Valley along the State Route 79 corridor, such as Radec and Aguanga, and ending 0.5 miles (0.80 km) southeast of the city center of Temecula. The creek is filled with boulders and is typically dry and sandy. It is a relatively undeveloped coastal-draining watershed. Until the 1920s, water flowed in Temecula Creek year-round.
Rancho Temecula was a 26,609-acre (107.68 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Riverside County, California given on 14 December 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Feliz Valdez. The grant extended south along the east bank Murrieta Creek to Temecula Creek and encompassed present-day Temecula, Murrieta and Murrieta Hot Springs. At the time of the US patent, Rancho Temecula was a part of San Diego County. Riverside County was created by the California Legislature in 1893 by taking land from both San Bernardino and San Diego Counties.
Rancho Pauba was a 26,598-acre (107.64 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Riverside County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Vicente Moraga and Luis Arenas. The grant was just east of present-day Temecula. At the time of the US patent, Rancho Pauba was a part of San Diego County. Riverside County was created by the California Legislature in 1893 by taking land from both San Bernardino and San Diego Counties.
The Elsinore Trough is a graben rift valley in Riverside County, southern California. It is created by the Elsinore Fault Zone.
Temescal Mountains, formerly the Sierra Temescal, are one of the northernmost mountain ranges of the Peninsular Ranges in western Riverside County, in Southern California in the United States. They extend for approximately 25 mi (40 km) southeast of the Santa Ana River east of the Elsinore Fault Zone to the Temecula Basin and form the western edge of the Perris Block.
The Perris Block is the central block of three major fault-bounded blocks of the northern part of the Peninsular Ranges. The Perris Block lies between the Santa Ana Block to the west and the San Jacinto Block to the east. The Perris Block, was named by Walter A. English in 1925 for the city of Perris, located near the center of the block.
Warm Springs Creek is a stream or arroyo, and a tributary of Murrieta Creek, in Riverside County, Southern California.
Willow Springs Station, was a changing station at Alamos or Willow Springs along the Second Division route of the Butterfield Overland Mail, in what is now Murrieta, in Riverside County, California. It was also known as Alamos, Clines's or Kline's, or Willows, was one of the later Butterfield Overland Mail stations, placed in 1859, between some of the original stations for changing teams and providing water between stops in hot dry areas. Willow Springs, also originally known as Alamos Springs was located west of the hills that line the east side of the Temecula Valley, on land of the Rancho Temecula, near Santa Gertrudis Creek on the low flood plain of Murrieta Creek, between Santa Gertrudis and Warm Springs Creek.
Plains of Leon, named for the former gold mining town, Leon once located near the middle of the plain. It is a plain in the Perris Block, contiguous on the south with the Perris Plain including within it the Domenigoni Valley and western Diamond Valley, French Valley, Auld Valley, the upper part of the valley of Warm Springs Creek and connecting tablelands.
Linda Rosa, or Linda Rose, is a former populated place, formerly in San Diego County, now in Riverside County, California. The town site of Linda Rosa was located southwest of the old town of Murrieta, California on the west side of Murrieta Creek. Linda Rosa is a name derived from Spanish meaning "pretty rose".
Murrieta Creek runs 13 miles (21 km) southeasterly through southwestern Riverside County, California, United States, through the cities of Wildomar, Murrieta, and Temecula, ending 0.5 miles (0.80 km) southeast of the city center of Temecula, where it has its confluence with Temecula Creek and forms the head of the Santa Margarita River.
Butterfield Valley is a valley along the course of Temecula Creek, in Riverside County, California. Its lower end is now filled by Vail Lake. It heads at 33°27′39″N116°55′34″W and its mouth is at the site of the Vail Lake Dam at the head of the deep canyon Temecula Creek has cut through Oak Mountain to the Pauba Valley.
Oak Mountain is a mountain in the northern Peninsular Ranges System, in Riverside County, in southern California.
Coordinates: 33°35′45″N117°07′30″W / 33.5958583°N 117.1250307°W
