Temecula (/təˈmɛkjʊlə/; Spanish: Temécula, [te'mekula]; Luiseño: Temeekunga) is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States.

Temecula is bordered by the city of Murrieta to the north and the Pechanga Indian Reservation and San Diego County to the south.

[5] The area was inhabited by the Temecula Indians for hundreds of years before their contact with the Spanish missionaries (the people are now generally known as the Luiseños, after the nearby Mission San Luis Rey de Francia).

[15][16] The Pechanga Band of Luiseño believe their ancestors have lived in the Temecula area for more than 10,000 years, though ethnologists think they arrived at a more recent date.

[19] The first recorded Spanish visit occurred in October 1797, with a Franciscan padre, Father Juan Norberto de Santiago, and Captain Pedro Lisalde.

[22] In 1798, Spanish missionaries established the Mission of San Luis Rey de Francia and designated the Indians living in the region as "Sanluiseños", shortened to "Luiseños".

[24][25][26][27] A fourth grant, known as Rancho Santa Rosa, was made to Juan Moreno in 1846, and was in the hills to the west of Temecula.

On December 6, 1846, at the Battle of San Pasqual, Andrés Pico led Californios to kill over twenty of U.S. General Stephen W. Kearny's men.

On November 15, 1853, the commission rejected the Luiseño claim; an appeal in 1856 to the district court was found to be in favor of the heirs of Pablo Apis (he had died in late 1853 or early 1854).

[32] A stagecoach line started a local route from Warner Ranch to Colton in 1857 that passed through the Temecula Valley.

Within a year, the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach line, with a route between St. Louis, Missouri, and San Francisco, stopped at Temecula's Magee Store.

The Temecula post office was moved in the ensuing years; its present locations are the seventh and eighth sites occupied.

[34] In 1862, Louis Wolf, a Temecula merchant and postmaster, married Ramona Place, who was mixed-race and half Indian.

[35] In 1882, the United States government established the Pechanga Indian Reservation of approximately 4,000 acres (16 km2) some 6 miles (9.7 km) from downtown Temecula.

In 1914, financed by Mahlon Vail and local ranchers, the First National Bank of Temecula opened on Front Street.

Many families began moving to the area from San Diego, Los Angeles, and Orange County, drawn by the affordable housing prices and the popular wine country.

From July to September, Temecula experiences hot, dry weather with the occasional North American monsoonal flow that increases the humidity and brings isolated thunderstorms.

During late fall into winter, Temecula experiences strong, dry northeastern Santa Ana winds.

The above-average number of young people in Temecula was attributed to an influx of middle-class families came to buy homes in the 1990s real estate boom.

[89][90] Temecula's Pennypickle's Workshop was a winner of Nickelodeon's Parents' Picks Award for "Best Museum" and "Best Kids' Party Place".

Temecula offers various sport options as youth extracurricular activities, such as football (both flag and Pop Warner), cheerleading, roller hockey, wrestling, basketball, baseball, soccer, and lacrosse.

In their first season, the Temecula Mountain Lions Rugby Club's men's team won the SCRFU Open Division Championship.

[97] The district's general boundaries extend north to French Valley, south to the Riverside/San Diego county line, east to Vail Lake, and west to the Temecula city limit.

San Jacinto College relocated from a smaller site west of Interstate 15 after purchasing two 5-story buildings from Abbott Laboratories in 2018.

[100][101] Temecula is also home to a satellite campus for California State University San Marcos (CSUSM), which offers several online and certificate programs.

[103] Temecula is also home to Professional Golfers Career College, a vocational school for those wishing to enter the golf industry.

Interstate 15 has three full interchanges in Temecula, and a fourth, French Valley Parkway, is partially constructed, with only the southbound off-ramp completed.

The Riverside Transit Agency bus system serves the Temecula area with Routes 23, 24, 55, 61, 79, 202, 205, 206, 208, and 217, as well as connections to Greyhound Lines.

[115][116][117] Police service in Temecula is provided in cooperation with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department via a contract with the department fulfilled through its Southwest Sheriff's Station, located in the unincorporated community of French Valley, just north of the city of Temecula, east of State Route 79 (Winchester Road).

The sheriff's station is currently commanded by Captain Lisa McConnell,[118] who also serves as Temecula's Chief of Police.