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Lake Elsinore is a city in Western Riverside County, California. As of January 2009 the population was estimated to be 50,267 according to the California Department of Finance. It is the home of the Lake Elsinore Storm baseball club of the California League which plays at the Lake Elsinore Diamond.

Cranes on Lake Elsinore, 2007

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 38.8 square miles (100.4 km²) of which 33.8 square miles (87.5 km²) of it is land and 5.0 square miles (12.9 km²), or 12.82%, is water.

Lake Elsinore (the lake) is the largest natural freshwater lake in Southern California and is situated at the lowest point within the 750 square mile San Jacinto Watershed at the terminus of the San Jacinto River, where its headwaters are found on the western slopes of San Jacinto Peak with its North Fork, and Lake Hemet with its South Fork. Lake levels are healthy at 1,244 feet (above sea level) and often fluctuate, although much has been done recently to prevent the lake from drying up, flooding, or becoming stagnant. At 1,255 feet, the lake would spill into the outflow channel on its northeastern shore, known properly as Temescal Wash, flowing northwest along I-15, which feeds Temescal Creek, which dumps into the Santa Ana River just northwest of the City of Corona. It then flows to Orange County, out to the Pacific Ocean just south of Huntington State Beach.

Lake Elsinore is bordered by the Elsinore Mountains to the west, which are a part of the larger Santa Ana Mountain Range, and receive snowfall a few days each year. Included in the Santa Ana Mountains is the Cleveland National Forest. Lake Elsinore is a part of the Temecula Valley and portions are also considered part of Temescal Canyon.

Like many other large geographical cities, Lake Elsinore is composed of several districts that includes the historic Countryclub Heights and Downtown, the established Four Corners, Lake Terrace, Machado Street Corridor, Northshore, Torn Ranch, and Tuscany Hills, and the newer Alberhill Ranch, Canyon Hills, La Laguna Estates, North Peak, Rosetta Canyon, Summerly, and Viscaya neighborhoods.

As of the census of 2000, there were 28,928 people, 8,817 households, and 6,877 families residing in the city. More recent, 2009 estimates place the population at 50,267. The population density was 855.7 people per square mile (330.4/km²). There were 9,505 housing units at an average density of 281.2/sq mi (108.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 65.61% White, 5.19% African American, 1.29% Native American, 2.05% Asian, 0.30% Pacific Islander, 20.33% from other races, and 5.23% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 38.05% of the population.

There were 8,817 households out of which 49.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.5% were married couples living together, 13.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.0% were non-families. 16.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.27 and the average family size was 3.66.

In the city the population was spread out with 36.0% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 32.0% from 25 to 44, 16.0% from 45 to 64, and 6.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 99.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $41,884, and the median income for a family was $47,563. Males had a median income of $41,692 versus $26,555 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,413. About 14.7% of families and 17.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.2% of those under age 18 and 12.1% of those age 65 or over.

Lake Elsinore, generally has for year-round pleasant weather:

On average, the warmest month is July.

The highest recorded temperature was 115 °F (46 °C) in 1960.

On average, the coolest month is December.

The lowest recorded temperature was 10 °F (−12 °C) in 1974.

The maximum average precipitation occurs in February.

In the state legislature Lake Elsinore is located in the 37th Senate District, represented by Republican John J. Benoit, and in the 66th Assembly District, represented by Republican Kevin Jeffries. Federally, Lake Elsinore is located in California's 49th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of R +10 and is represented by Republican Darrell Issa.

View from Santa Ana Mountains via Ortega Highway, 2009

Native Americans have long lived in the area. The Luiseño were the earliest known inhabitants. Their pictographs can be found on rocks on the Santa Ana Mountains and artifacts have been found all around Lake Elsinore and in the local canyons and hills.

Overlooked by the expedition of Juan Bautista de Anza, the largest natural lake in Southern California, was first seen by the Spanish Franciscan padre Juan Santiago, exploring eastward from the Mission San Juan Capistrano in 1797. In the early 19th century the lake provided a spot for Spanish ranchers, American trappers, the expedition of John C. Frémont and others to camp and water their animals as they traveled along the southern bank of the lake on what later became the Southern Immigrant Trail and the route of the Butterfield Overland Mail.

On January 7, 1844, Julian Manriquez acquired the land grant to Rancho La Laguna a tract of almost 20,000 acres which included the lake. In 1851 Abel Stearns acquired the rancho and sold it in 1858 to Augustin Machado. Machado built an adobe ranch house west of the lake. Soon after the rancho became a stop on the Butterfield Overland Mail route.

On October 5, 1883, Franklin H. Heald and his partners Donald Graham and William Collier bought the remaining rancho intending to start a new town. In 1884 the California Southern Railroad built a line from Colton through the Cañon de Rio San Jacinto (now Railroad Canyon) to link with San Diego and a rail station La Laguna appeared near the corner of what is now Mission Trail Road and Diamond Drive. Lake Elsinore was incorporated as a city in San Diego County in 1888 and became part of Riverside County upon its creation in 1893 but was inhabited well before then. It was named Elsinore after the Danish city in Shakespeare's "Hamlet", which is now its sister city.

Crescent Bath House, or "The Chimes", 2006

From the beginning, the mineral springs near the lake attracted visitors seeking therapeutic treatments. In 1887, the Crescent Bath House now known as "The Chimes" was built, it still stands in historic downtown and is a registered national historic site. By 1888, the economy was supported by coal and clay mining at what became the town of Terra Cotta, gold mining in the Pinacate Mining District, ranching and the agriculture of fruit and nuts.

In the 1920s Elsinore became a resort for the rich and the glamorous from Hollywood and also hosted teams for Olympic training and for high speed boat racing. The lake went dry in the mid 1930s but refilled by 1938. During World War Two the lake was used to test seaplanes and a Douglas Aircraft plant making wing assemblies for B-17 bombers was located in the city.

The lake ran dry during most of the 1950s and was refilled in the early 1960s. More than a week of heavy rains in 1980 flooded the lake, destroying surrounding homes and businesses. Since then there has been a multi-million dollar project put into place to maintain the water supply at a consistent level allowing for homes to be built close to the lake. Unfortunately there are no provisions to allow the water to spill out via a river, so the overflow must be diverted into the Temescal Canyon Creek. In 2007 there was an aeration system added to help with the lake's ecosystem.

Lake Elsinore was a popular destination in the first half of the 1900s for celebrities to escape the urban Hollywood scene. Many of their homes still stand on the hills surrounding the lake, including Aimee's Castle (Aimee Semple McPherson), a uniquely shaped house perched on a hill above the water.

Despite its relatively small African-American population, it has the distinction of electing the first black mayor in the state of California. Tom Yarborough was elected in 1966, three years before Douglas Dollarhide became the mayor of Compton.

Rapid population growth altered the appearance and image of Lake Elsinore from a small lakeside town of 3,800 people in 1976 to a bedroom community of upper middle-class professionals. The city and its sphere of influence now has over 38,000 residents as of 2006 and formerly open hillsides have been converted into housing tracts.

The Riverside County Sheriff's Department serves the entire Lake Elsinore Valley (including the nearby suburbs of Lakeland Village and Sedco Hills, and the newly-incorporated City of Wildomar) from its regional station in downtown Lake Elsinore (the city once had its own police department, but it was disbanded in 1979 for budgetary reasons).

The City of Lake Elsinore contracts for fire protection and emergency medical services(EMS) with the Riverside County Fire Department through a cooperative agreement with CAL FIRE (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection). The City of Lake Elsinore currently has 3 paramedic engines operating out of its 3 stations and a 4th station currently under construction in Rosetta Canyon. The fire department also maintains a volunteer company which covers a rescue squad out of Station 94. The volunteers also cover reserve engines when the engines are available.

Fire station 10 is located downtown next to the post office which also has 2 Cal Fire engines for supplemental protection. Fire station 85 is located at McVicker Park and fire station 94 is located on the east side of the city off of Railroad Canyon Road. Rosetta Canyon station 97 is scheduled to open in 2009 with a paramedic engine and a ladder truck company sometime in 2011.

Public education within the most of the city of Lake Elsinore and the surrounding areas is provided by the Lake Elsinore Unified School District, which serves a student population of about 21,500 . The school district has 15 elementary schools, five middle schools, three high schools, and three alternative schools.

A very small portion of northeastern Lake Elsinore in the Canyon Hills subdivision is located in the Menifee Union School District for grades K-8, and Perris Union High School District for grades 9-12.

Lake Elsinore Diamond, 2008

Lake Elsinore Diamond serves as a site for the Single A baseball team of The Lake Elsinore Storm, which is a farm team for the San Diego Padres and was formerly a farm team for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Also, semi-pro football team, the Riverside-Elsinore Dolphins of the Western States Football League in 1996-98. The stadium now hosts the Banning-Elsinore Eagles of the California Football Association, a minor American football league. It may host the Murrieta Bandits, a professional soccer team in 2007, despite the team's office is based in Murrieta. At this time, neither football or soccer is played at the "the Diamond". However, special events such as concerts with stars such as Willie Nelson and ZZ Top have appeared there.

Lake Elsinore Grand Prix, 2005

The Elsinore Grand Prix is a dirt bike race that takes place in and around the Lake Elsinore area, starting and finishing in downtown Lake Elsinore. The annual race is usually held in mid-November. The popularity of the event hit its apex in the late 1960s and early 1970s drawing the likes of Dirtbike greats such as Malcolm Smith and Steve McQueen to name a few. The race has always been set as an “open” format, meaning that anyone can ride, usually only about 200 or so take this event seriously, whereas the rest use it as an opportunity to have fun. In 1971 the documentary movie On Any Sunday by Bruce Brown was filmed, considered by many to be the greatest motorcycle film ever made.

In the mid-1970s the Elsinore Grand Prix hit a snag, none of the big riders were participating and the event was drawing the wrong crowd, mostly violent motorcycle gangs. The Grand Prix was canceled indefinitely soon afterwards. In 1996 several dirt bike riders, with a hint of nostalgia, decided to lobby the City of Lake Elsinore to revive the Grand Prix. Promising that the violent motorcycle gang crowd drawn to the Grand Prix in the 1970s had gone and that dirt bike motorcycle riding was more of a family event, the city allowed the event to resume on a provisional basis.

Lake Elsinore is also a popular destination for motorcyclists riding east from San Juan Capistrano along the 33-mile long Ortega Highway.

On a 1992 Sightings segment, a local citizen group of ten members from Lake Elsinore claimed to share or knew each other in past lives in 1863 Clarksburg, West Virginia. The paranormal television series claimed the small group experienced a rare phenomena called mass reincarnation. The story was covered on a hard-cover novel From Clarksburg to Lake Elsinore: A Profile on Reincarnation published in 1988, but since was out-of-print.

One of the first outlet shopping malls in California was established in northwestern Lake Elsinore in the late 1990s on Collier Road at Nichols Road, just off Interstate 15; the mall now has its own automobile dealership (actually a satellite location for Murrieta Valley Kia).

The City's Visitors Bureau has also been making efforts to expand tourism in the area, however a lack of lodging prevents the city from doing so on a wide scale. Prior to 2006 there were no brand-name hotels, although The Quality Inn and Best Western have since been built within the city limits, while Holiday Inn has announced they are building a new hotel in the city.