Editing Canyon Lake, California (section)

==History==
===Etymology===
{{See also|List of Riverside County, California, placename etymologies#Canyon Lake|List of Riverside County, California, placename etymologies#Railroad Canyon|label 1=List of Riverside County, California placename etymologies: Canyon Lake |label 2=Railroad Canyon}}
The city of Canyon Lake is named after the reservoir it is built around. Initially, the reservoir was known as '''Railroad Canyon Reservoir''', or '''Railroad Canyon Lake''', but now the reservoir and the community are referred to by the shortened form, '''Canyon Lake'''.

===Early history===
In 1882, the [[California Southern Railroad]] built a line from Perris to Elsinore along the east side of the [[San Jacinto River (California)|San Jacinto River]]. The [[Santa Fe Railroad]] bought the line and joined it with their line in San Bernardino. Floods in 1884, 1916, and 1927 washed out the tracks, and the Santa Fe Railroad decided to abandon the line. Soon after the last flood, the Temescal Water Company bought the railroad right-of-way, as well as {{convert|1,000|acre|ha}} from Henry Evans, a rancher, and another land from B.T. Kuert. Those were the two parcels that make up most of Canyon Lake today.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The History of Canyon Lake |url=http://www.canyonlakeca.gov/index.asp?SEC=D7F38F6F-5104-4095-88F5-E7E1FFE689D7 |access-date=June 24, 2022 |website=www.canyonlakeca.gov |language=en |archive-date=April 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411195750/http://www.canyonlakeca.gov/index.asp?SEC=D7F38F6F-5104-4095-88F5-E7E1FFE689D7 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Construction started in 1927 to build a dam across the river to store water. It was finished in 1929. [[Railroad Canyon Reservoir]], when built, was one of the largest freshwater lakes for fishing, hunting, and camping in Southern California. The reservoir and the surrounding area were leased as a concession from Temescal Water Company as a recreational area under the operation of the George D. Evans family from 1937 until after [[World War II]]. After the war Ray and Alpha Schekel, along with John and Darleen Kirkland, operated the resort until 1949 when the lake was drained for repairs to the floodgates.

===Community development===
In 1968 the Corona Land Development Company developed the new community.<ref name="Martin">Martin, Elinor (2007). [http://www.google.com/search?q=Images%20of%20America%2C%20Canyon%20Lake&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbo=u&tbs=bks:1&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wp Images of America, Canyon Lake]. [[Arcadia Publishing]].  {{ISBN|978-0-7385-4712-1}}. {{OCLC|123899361}} Retrieved July 10, 2010.</ref><ref name="CCLHist">[http://www.cityofcanyonlake.com/history.asp History] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080917064343/http://www.cityofcanyonlake.com/history.asp |date=September 17, 2008 }}. City of Canyon Lake.</ref>

Canyon Lake began as a master-planned community developed by Corona Land Company in 1968,<ref name="autogenerated1" /> consisting of 4,801 lots.