Welty Building

HISTORIC NAME: The Welty Building

NOTE: There are two plaques on this building.

FIRST PLAQUE DESIGNATION: #5

FIRST PLAQUE SIZE: 10”w x 18”h

FIRST PLAQUE LOCATION: Right of front door.

FIRST PLAQUE GPS COORDINATES: 33.493254, -117.14882 or N 33° 29' 35.71", W 117° 8' 55.75"

FIRST PLAQUE CONDITION: Poor hard to read, would be difficult to remove

SECOND PLAQUE DESIGNATION: No number and no info on who put it up.

SECOND PLAQUE SIZE: 18”w x 12”h

SECOND PLAQUE LOCATION: On side of building facing Front Street.

SECOND PLAQUE GPS COORDINATES: 33.493221, -117.148758 or N 33° 29' 35.59", W 117° 8' 55.52"

SECOND PLAQUE CONDITION: Good

LOCATION ADDRESS: 28653 Old Town Front Street – Temecula CA 92590

DESCRIPTION: Two-story building, stucco exterior

CURRENT NAME OR OCCUPANT: Temecula Olive Oil Company

CURRENT OWNER: Olive View Vineyard and Winery

FIRST PLAQUE TEXT:

Built in the late 1880’s by R. J. and Mary Welty, known as the Welty Store, the upper floor served as a hotel prior to the construction of the new Welty Hotel, now the Temecula Hotel. Joe Winkels acquired the building in 1902 and named it Ramona Inn. The store became a barber shop and saloon. On Christmas Eve, 1907, constable Preston Van Swanguen and Frederick Escallier were killed here by Horace Magee. A boxing ring was installed upstairs and Jim Jeffries, Jack Sharkey, Jack Dempsey and A.D. Wolgast were among the fighters who worked out here.

At this location on December 24, 1907, Temecula constable Preston Van Swanguen, known as “Pres” by the folks in the small cattle town of Temecula, was shot and killed while trying to break up a bar room brawl. Swanguen left his home during Christmas Eve dinner with friends and family after getting word there was trouble at the bar. He entered the business unarmed and, after confronting the trouble makers, was shot dead by one of them. The shooter was captured, tried and sentenced to jail. Swanguen was the first law enforcement officer in the history of Riverside County (Est. 1893) to be killed in the line of duty. He is buried at the Temecula Public Cemetery.