Excerpts - Temecula & Southwest County

Explore Old Town Temecula

Sounds of player pianos no longer emanate from Front or Main Street saloons, nor can you hear the shrill whistle of the California Southern Railway steam engine as it puffs into town. But the nostalgia remains and you can step back into the Old West with a stroll down the boarded sidewalks, past shops and buildings that look as they did 120 years ago.

Today, Old Town Temecula boasts more than 600 antique dealers, specialty shops, boutiques and art galleries where browsers and collectors can search for turn-of-thecentury treasures.

A good place to start your tour is the Temecula Valley Museum, just a short walk from the north entrance. There you will find the Sam Hicks Monument, an 11-foot high, 15-ton boulder with a plaque that commemorates 56 Temecula pioneers.

On the side of a building behind the Temecula Stage Stop at Front and 6th Streets is an eye-catching, handpainted mural of an old steam engine train chugging across countryside that would one day be filled with thousands of residents.

Working your way south down Front Street, take note of the old Palomar Hotel at 5th and Front Streets. It was built in 1924 and for a period of time served as Temecula’s post office. Visit the old jail in the tiny courtyard behind the Ramona Inn, located at Front and Main Streets. Built originally as a wine cellar from rubble granite from the Temecula Quarry, the wine building became a way station for tipplers in the 1930s when the sheriff used the thick-walled structure to let overimbibers sleep it off.

Don’t miss the Temecula Mercantile Building on the north side of Main Street just west of Front. It is one of Old Town’s oldest structures. In the 1970s it became an antique store and now is the entryway to a new, 360-seat Old Town Temecula Community Theater.

A little farther down is Butterfield Square, never a stop for the Butterfield Overland Mail Stage, but today a collection of small boutiques and shops.

The old Machado Store at the southeast corner of Front and Main was a general merchandise store in the late 1800s and later became the Temecula station post office. For many years it was the Long Branch Saloon and is now an antique mall. If all this walking has worked up an appetite, you are in luck. Old town has numerous food emporiums catering to every taste and appetite. There are coffee and sandwich shops, Mexican restaurants, steak houses, an upscale bar and grill and a gourmet restaurant at the south end of Front Street.

A highlight of any Old Town visit is the Saturday morning Farmers’ Market at Front and 6th Streets. There are dozens of booths selling fresh produce and flowers as well as boutique items; try some of the delicious snacks, which range from home-made burritos to stuffed French crepes.

A frequently asked question is, “What can kids do in Old Town?” On some weekends there are pony rides and of course there is the beautiful Temecula Valley Museum. One of the brightest new attractions for youngsters is the 7,500- square-foot Imagination Workshop Children’s Museum. Located on Main Street just west of Front, the facility features a wide array of educational recreational exhibits as well as interactive, hands-on displays.

If you enjoy quilts you will love the colorful quilt show held each October. They are spectacular and hang from nearly every building. Then there are Western Days, Car Shows and the Blue Grass Festival as well as the Erle Stanley Gardner Mystery Weekend in honor of the famed mystery writer. The Street Painting Festival in June and Hot Summer Nights in July are crowd pleasers as well as the annual Old Town Howl-o-Ween and Christmas celebrations.