The Wood Streets, one of Riverside’s most well known neighborhoods

The Wood Streets is one of the most well known neighborhoods in Riverside.  It’s known for its modest historic homes from Arts and Crafts Bungalows to Spanish Colonial Revival and many other European Revival styles.  I believe, however, that this is the extent of most peoples’ knowledge of the neighborhood and so I wanted to put an article together to dive a little bit deeper into the history of this neighborhood.  This is by no means an exhaustive history but should give you a little more insight which may come in handy while having cocktails during an evening on the front porch.

Prior to 1913, what is now the Wood Streets was divided from Downtown by the largest natural Arroyo in the city known as the Tequesquite.  The neighborhood was predominantly Victorian homes, such as the famous Daniel Battles House, situated amongst orange groves and alfalfa fields.  As Riverside expanded there was a need for housing and so we decided to fill the arroyo and connect “New Magnolia” to Market Street.  You may have never noticed but pay attention next time you’re driving on Magnolia between Riverside Community Hospital and RCC.  You’ll notice how steep the slopes are on either side, one leading down to the football stadium and one leading down to the baseball fields.  That entire slope was man made in 1913 using fill from the Arroyo!  There’s some great information posted in the Ryan Bonaminio Park about that project.

The Wood Streets is a diverse neighborhood and the more you know about its development, the more interesting it becomes.  The oldest section of the neighborhood, taken as a whole, is the official Historic District.  This covers the streets on the east side of Magnolia from Beechwood which is the southern border and includes Castle Reagh, Larchwood and Ramona as the northern border.  The homes were predominantly built in the 1920’s however since the tracts were subdivided and the lots sold individually there can often be some variance between the year-built from one neighbor to the next.  Generally speaking, as you move east to west in the neighborhood, the homes become newer.  There are always older properties sprinkled throughout the area due to the fact that people often settled on large tracts of land and then parceled them off little by little however it’s pretty clear that as you move from Magnolia to Brockton to Palm the homes progress from the 20’s to the 30’s and 40’s ending with homes built as late at 1960-70 close to the Santa Ana Riverbottom.  What’s interesting about the aging of the homes is the clear-cut change in architectural interest which was fueled most distinctly by WWII.  The minimal traditional homes of the 1940’s designed for soldiers returning from war are in stark contrast to the Period Revival styles of the 1920’s and yet these two sets of properties can be found just a few blocks from each other!  It’s wonderful that this neighborhood has representations of architectural styles spanning almost 100 years from Victorian Queen-Anne’s to mid-century ranch homes and then there are of course, the trees.  Each street is slightly different from the next in terms of the types and amounts of trees and this gives the neighborhood an additional dimension of diversity.  For example, Beechwood, in the Historic District has fewer trees and more Palms which make the street feel wider and the homes feel more exposed then just a few blocks over on Larchwood with its thick wall of pines and cypress trees.  The Wood Streets, since it’s most notable beginning in roughly the 1920’s, has long been a favorite middle class neighborhood for Riverside.  The neighborhood character made up from an amalgam of architectural styles is one that is beautifully diverse.  The lots are fairly large and there are sidewalks that encourage you to walk and enjoy your time there.  I’ve lived in this neighborhood for 12 years now and consider it a pleasure and a privilege!