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| Perris is named in honor of Fred T. Perris, chief engineer of the California Southern Railroad. The California Southern connected through the city in the 1880s to build a rail connection between the present day cities of Barstow and San Diego. CSR purchased the land from Southern Pacific Railroad in the Pinacate area for a town site. Local citizens offered to erect a depot, dig a well, and donate a number of lots to the railroad in exchange for establishing a station at the new town site. The Perris station came online in April 1886. By 1887, six passenger trains and two freight trains stopped at Perris daily and rapid growth followed for several years. After storms repeatedly washed out the tracks in the Temecula Gorge, service to San Diego through this route ended. Perris officially incorporated as a city in 1911. Click here for more information. |