Editing Wildomar, California (section)

==History==
{{more citations needed section|date=November 2017}}
{{Tone|date=April 2025}}[[File:Wildomar tree tunnel 2.jpg|thumb|Bundy Canyon Road]]
In the summer of 1880 when, looking down from the peak of [[Mount San Antonio|Mt. Baldy]], Franklin Heald of [[Pasadena, California|Pasadena]] first noticed [[Lake Elsinore]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lake-elsinore.org/visitors/history/city-timeline|title=A brief chronology of the Lake Elsinore Valley|publisher=lake-elsinore.org}}</ref> then known as ''La Laguna''. A few months later, in October, Frank Kimbal of San Diego signed an agreement with the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad]] to build a rail line past the lake from [[San Diego]] to [[Barstow, California|Barstow]], then known as Waterman.<ref>By David Brown, Historian</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=WP:PRIMARY|date=November 2017}}

The next winter, Heald traveled by buggy to see La Laguna (Lake Elsinore) at the same time work commenced on the rail line from San Diego skirting the lakeshore. The new line was to be known as the [[California Southern Railroad]]. Rails and spikes were brought from [[Antwerp]], [[Belgium]], and locomotives came from the Eastern Seaboard. The line was completed as far as [[Colton, California|Colton]] on August 14, 1882. The new train service was destined to bring development to the Wildomar area, then known as the southern portion of the [[Rancho La Laguna (Manriquez)|Rancho La Laguna]].

Heald found that the Rancho La Laguna could be purchased, with the exception of some {{convert|500|acre|km2}} owned by the Machado family, from the London and San Francisco Bank for $24,000. On July 3, 1883, Heald paid $1,000 as a down payment on the area. He then brought in William Collier and Donald Graham as partners. On September 24 of that year, the three men purchased the {{convert|12832|acre|km2}} of Rancho La Laguna with an additional payment of $7,000 advanced by William Collier. The remaining debt was paid off shortly thereafter.

The railroad placed a boxcar, known as "Car B", off to the north-west side of the mainline near what is now Clinton Keith Road on January 1, 1884. For a number of years, this served as the railroad depot for the area that was to become Wildomar.

Heavy rains in the winter of 1884 left as much as {{convert|60|in|mm}} washing out the railroad tracks below Temecula as well as along the [[San Jacinto River (California)|San Jacinto River]] and [[Railroad Canyon]] near the shore of Lake Elsinore. Flood damage broke the California Southern Railroad financially. The Santa Fe Railroad came to the rescue. Santa Fe took over the rail line and rebuilt it by the beginning of 1885. The rail line through Wildomar became part of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad.

In January 1885, Collier, Graham, and Heald made a map of Blocks K, L and M of the Elsinore area, recording the maps with San Diego County in October of that year. In February 1885, Collier and Graham purchased Franklin Heald's one-third interest in the {{convert|2600|acre|km2}} of unsold land south-east of Corydon Road. Heald took full interest in the unsold land to the north-west of the Corydon Road line.

Collier and Graham made a map of the Wildomar townsite in December 1885, recording it with [[San Diego County]] on November 20, 1886. The name ''Wildomar'' was derived by combining the names of the new town's founders, ''Wil'' for William Collier, ''do'' for Donald Graham, and ''mar'' for [[Margaret Collier Graham]], wife of Donald Graham and sister of William Collier.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Holmes |first1=Elmer Wallace |title=History of Riverside County, California: With Biographical Sketches of the Leading Men and Women of the County who Have Been Identified with Its Growth and Development from the Early Days to the Present |date=1912 |publisher=Historic Record Company |location=Los Angeles |page=293 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyriversid00unkngoog/page/292/mode/2up |language=en}}</ref>

In 1886 a new school was built, along with a post office and railroad depot. By 1887, Wildomar could boast a large hotel, livery stable, blacksmith shop, numerous stores, a lumber yard, and a park. A Methodist-Episcopalian church was built in 1888 across from the new school just north-west of Central Avenue. In October 1887, Collier and Graham made a map of the Santa Rosa addition to Wildomar, an addition of about {{convert|1500|acre|km2}} purchased from Parker Dear, owner of the [[Rancho Santa Rosa (Moreno)|Rancho Santa Rosa]] who was attempting to develop a town he called [[Linda Rosa, California|Linda Rosa]] further south on the rail-line. This new map was recorded February 10, 1892, in the San Diego County records.

By the start of the 20th century, Wildomar even had its own newspaper, ''The Transcript''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pressenterprise.com/2018/12/27/early-riverside-county-residents-got-their-news-from-colorful-community-papers/|title=Early Riverside County residents got their news from colorful community papersy|date=December 27, 2018 |publisher=pressenterprise.com}}</ref> The railroad, however, continued to be plagued by [[Washout (erosion)|washout]]s and within a few years, the rail connection south from Temecula to San Diego were abandoned. With fewer trains, Wildomar's development slowed. Then, in 1935, rail service to Wildomar was abandoned and the rails were pulled up back to [[Pinacate, California|Pinacate]]. Wildomar was almost a forgotten community. Then, in the early 1980s, the [[Interstate 15 in California|Temecula Valley Freeway (I-15)]] was completed, bringing with it a new wave of interest in the area. Once again, Wildomar had begun to grow and experience new prosperity.

The citizens of Wildomar and [[Sedco Hills, California|Sedco Hills]] voted on February 5, 2008, to incorporate. Wildomar became the 25th city in Riverside County on July 1, 2008.<ref>Furnished by the Wildomar Historical Society</ref>

The city was an important place for honey production.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DcuCwc1wmYEC&q=Wildomar%2C+California+history | title=Wildomar | isbn=978-0-7385-7082-2 | last1=Cashman | first1=Robert | date=2010 | publisher=Arcadia }}</ref>