First National Bank of Temecula
The First National Bank of Temecula at the northwest corner of Front and Main Streets, where the main road in and out of town intersected with the road from the train station, opened for business on June 10th, 1914. The Remington Company of Los Angeles took a year to build the fortress-like two-story building. The solid, 18-inch thick walls of cement, reinforced with steel rods anchored into steel plates, were poured by laborers pushing wheelbarrows up ramps and along scaffolding. Rancher Mahlon Vail, who controlled the majority of the bank stock, referred to the bank as his “hock shop” because loans were at times made on collateral like a pawn shop. In 1943 the bank closed its doors and the building served as a hotel, an antique shop and an office building until 1978 when Dave Covarrubias bought it and opened The Bank of Mexican Food.
Temecula, Riverside County
Photographer: Andrew Schmidt