Landmarks Of Riverside

The landmarks depicted on this page represent a small sampling of the more than 10,000 records in the City's Historic Districts & Buildings website where you can take a virtual tour of many locations and experience Riverside's treasure of architecture and history.  Whenever possible, the links on this page will take you to the Historic Districts and Buildings website. Another resource is the PDF document Landmarks of the City of Riverside which is published by the Riverside Cultural Heritage Board.

Fox Theater 3801 Mission Inn Avenue at Market Opened in 1929, the Spanish Colonial Revival style theater served the community as a combination cinema/vaudeville house and attracted well-known performers including Bing Crosby and Judy Garland. Also popular as a location for motion picture previews, the theater was the site of the first public screening of "Gone with the Wind" in 1939.

Heritage House 8193 Magnolia Avenue This restored two-story Victorian home, completed in 1892, is in the Queen Anne style. Highlights include the staircase, gas lamps, and turn-of-the-century decor. Riverside City Landmark #5. Call for tour hours. Free admission, donation suggested. (951) 689-1333

Mission Inn: 3649 Mission Inn Avenue Public tours of the Mission Inn are provided by the trained docents of the Mission Inn Foundation. Tour times and routes are subject to availability. For reservations, call the Mission Inn Foundation (951-781-8241) or the Mission Inn Museum (951-788-9556).

Riverside County Courthouse 3050 Main Street Constructed in 1904, the county's first courthouse was designed by Franklin P. Burnam in beaux artes classical style to duplicate the facade of the 1900 Paris Exposition's Grand Palace of Fine Arts.

Universalist-Unitarian Church 3525 Mission Inn Avenue Built in 1891, the Arizona sandstone structure was designed by architect A.C. Willard in medieval English parish church style, a form of Gothic Revival. Sunday morning services are enhanced by the picturesque restored interior lit by detailed stained glass windows.

Victoria Avenue One of California's great historic avenues, lined with palms, eucalyptus and oldfashioned rose bushes. This landscape pattern dates from 1892 and has been a local showplace ever since. Bicycle paths run alongside this distinctive 7 mile divided avenue bordered by orange groves.

First Congregational Church 3504 Mission Inn Avenue Completed in 1913 as the third home of the city's first church congregation, the building was designed by architect Myron Hunt in Spanish Renaissance Revival style with Churrigueresque tower and details. The carillon was installed in the bell tower in 1989.

Municipal Auditorium 3485 Mission Inn Avenue The main auditorium of this beautiful 1920s Moorish-Mission revival style building seats 1776 people.  The building itself includes a magnificent sunken garden and a cloistered walk.

Benedict Castle 5445 Chicago Avenue This Spanish-style castle was designed by H.L.A. Jekel in the Spanish-Moorish style and built in two stages, 1922-1931. It is now headquarters for the Teen Challenge Program. For further information, call (951) 683-4241

Parent Navel Orange Tree The Corner of Magnolia and Arlington One of the two original trees from which California's Washington navel orange industry descended and now planted at the corner of Magnolia and Arlington. Propagated from the trees imported from Bahia, Brazil in 1870 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, two specimens were sent to Luther and Eliza Tibbets for experimental planting in 1873. One was later replanted at the Mission Inn grand opening in 1903 by President Roosevelt.