The story
Read it all →How Perris came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Perris.
Native Americans inhabited the hills. Gold deposits were found when Spanish and Mexican miners entered the area.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
CHistory
History · Perris
Perris’ post office opened in 1886, and 2 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 32% of U.S. towns · #315 of 847 in California. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Southern Hotel and the Perris Depot. Most of Perris was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2000. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1890 on, and old-book passages.
1886first post office
2on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
4famous people
Quick answers
How Perris began
When was Perris founded?
1886
The Perris post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Pinacate (1881), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
2020 census: 78,700140 years
How historic is Perris?
C
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 32% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Perris post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Perris’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Perris is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #315 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Perris’ overall grade.
Founding era1886, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19401.6% of homes (±1.0) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register2 listings, 0.2 per 10,000 residents · typical CA town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 32%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 63%
Few California towns list much on the Register (a typical California town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Perris’ 0.2 sits above most of its state (66% of California towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share (±1.0 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Perris’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Perris’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Perris’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Every building
Perris, building by building, 1890–1926
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1890Sheet 1 of 1Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Perris in 1912
Passages that mention Perris, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Riverside County, California1912 · page 162Read the page →
Read the text
Perris has a bank and a banker, and is justly proud of both W. W. Stewart came to Perris in the fall of 1908 and opened the Bank of Perris. He bought property and began at once to build his home, which is one of the most beautiful and modern houses in the valley. It is in the foothill portion of the city, commanding a view of the whole valley. This was in readiness for the arrival of his wife, two sons and daughter, Genevieve, who came the following spring. The two sons, W. G. and Clifford, are associated with
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Riverside County, California1912 · page 227Read the page →
Read the text
rains of that memorable season. There was no railroad, so the homeseekers must stage in, either from San Gorgonio, on the Southern Pacific, or from Pinacarte, a small station on the Southern California Railway near the present town of Perris. Let us choose the San Gorgonio route over the Beaumont grade. As the stage rounds the last spur of the mountain on the down grade into the valley, a scene of enchantment bursts upon the view.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Perris, 1881 to 1994
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1881Post officeThe Pinacate post office opens
- 1886
BuiltSouthern Hotel is built - 1886Post officeThe Perris post office opens
- 1887Post officeThe Pinacate post office closes
- 1889
Born hereAlfred Edward Green is born here - 1889
Born hereElmer Rieger is born here - 20th century
- 1900
In the archivePerris incinerator 1 - 1942
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1982
Born hereCorey Jackson is born here - 1994Born hereDamore'ea Stringfellow is born here
By decade
Perris, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1900s1 item
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
2025
2023
2019
2013
2010
2006On the map
Perris on the map, 1942 to 1973
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Perris. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1942Perris sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Perris.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewPerris incinerator 1, c. 1900
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Perris’ page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
2 historic places in Perris
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1992
Southern Hotel
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Italianate1
Queen Anne1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →4 famous people were born in Perris
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Perris’s post office has been open since 1886. Another post office, Pinacate, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Pinacate
Perris
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
EllisRancho las Perris
1cemetery inside Perris
Perris Valley
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Perris’ history
What year was Perris founded?
The Perris post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Perris rank for history?
Perris is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #315 of 847 in California. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Perris?
Two places: the Southern Hotel (listed 1992) and the Perris Depot (1994).
How old are the homes in Perris?
2% of Perris’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 2000.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (7), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.