Perris is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, located 17.6mi south of Riverside, California. At the 2010 census, the city population was 68,386, up from 36,189 at the 2000 census.HistoryThe Perris Valley was actively settled in the 1880s, a boom period for Southern California. Prior to 1880, the land was used for pastures. The coming of the California Southern Railroad led to the founding of the city around the new depot. The California Southern was built through the future town site in 1882 to open a rail connection between the present day cities of Barstow and San Diego. Due to a land title dispute at Pinacate, most of its citizens moved two miles north on the railroad and established Perris in 1885. The city is named in honor of Fred T. Perris, chief engineer of the California Southern Railroad. The city of Perris was incorporated in 1911. It originally was part of San Diego County, but in 1892 was transferred to the newly established Riverside County.Perris now incorporates Pinacate Station which is the home of the Orange Empire Railway Museum (a.k.a. "the trolley museum") - the largest operating museum of its kind on the West Coast of the United States.
