Walking TourRegistryBuildingModern PhotoHistoric Photo
1381011 S. MAIN AVE
1947 First Fire Station
Bill Thurber, head of the Fallbrook Volunteer Fire Department, built this two story board and batten structure in 1947 to house his welding business, however it soon became the first fire station in Fallbrook. Subsequent businesses have included an auto body shop, an antique furniture shop and several restaurants
212131 W. BEECH STREET
1882 ABBOTT’S HALL/ ODD FELLOWS LODGE (now Sun Center)
An 1882 two story brick structure is the oldest commercial building of this kind remaining in Fallbrook. The downstairs was a livery stable and upstairs, known as Abbot’s Hall was used as a meeting area for various civic groups until 1988 when the building was renovated for commercial use.
316127 W. ELDER STREET
1884 ELMORE SHIPLEY RESIDENCE/ELDER HOUSE (now 127 Restaurant)
This 1884 restored Victorian farmhouse built by the Shipley family was moved to this location ca 1925. It has been a restaurant, a boarding house and a private school, and a newspaper office
454121 S. MAIN AVE
1930 EL REAL HOTEL (now Harry’s Bar/El Real Hotel)
This two-story brick Mission Style building opened in 1930 as the El Real Hotel with 19 hotel rooms and two suites on the second floor. Office rooms were partitioned on the ground floor to the rear of the Hotel Lobby as well as living quarters for the Ellis family who owned a meat market in the front. It has housed a dentist’s office, and a beauty shop. Some kind of coffee shop, café or restaurant has always been here in the lower SE corner of the hotel.
553128-132 S. MAIN AVE.
1890 W.D. WRIGHT RESIDENCE/BAILEY TELEPHONE (now Copy Shop & Yogurt Palace)
This 1890 single-story long building was originally used as a residence at the southern end with room for businesses to the north. Expanded during the 1920’s by the Bailey family, it housed Fallbrook’s first telephone company. The home of several storefront businesses over the years it was also the site of Palm’s Mortuary whose owner installed the decorative tin ceiling which can be seen today
657109-113 N. MAIN AVE
1887 FALLIS BROS/ FALLBROOK MERCANTILE (now Jewelry Connection/ Caravan/ Brandon Gallery)
Originally erected in 1887 at the corner of Main and Alvarado streets by the Fallis Brothers as a dry goods store. After the whole blocked burned down in 1904, the Fallis Brothers sold their property to their bookkeeper, Rex Reader who rebuilt the Fallbrook Mercantile. Reader rebuilt again in 1927 to add storefronts that he leased to Safeway and Harrison’s Pharmacy.
759117-121 N. MAIN AVE
1885 AVERALL BLDG/ JACKSON SQUARE/ WOODBURYS (now The Gallery)
First built in 1885, Oscar Hafner’s harness shop was here. Bert Woodbury bought the property and built his post office in front of the old place. It was Woodbury’s Post Office from 1920 to 1936. The Woodburys’ residence was in the rear. Robyn Sikking’s ceramic gift shop was here from 1945 until the late 1950s. Notice the French door that Bruce Sikking built for the shop in the 1940s. In 1966 Robert & Mary Jackson bought the building. See the gate and steps on the north side of this building that led to the Jackson Square patio with shops and a restaurant.
860123 N. MAIN AVE
1915 SIMON FREEMAN BLDG/ BARKOWS RESIDENCE (now Paxton Effect)
This 1915 structure, corrugated iron with a board and batten façade, is flush with the street and has been used for various commercial businesses. Simon and Susan Freeman once lived here, and he had Freeman’s drugstore. Harold and Marcella Barkow, publishers of the Fallbrook Enterprise from 1946-1955 lived here for many years in their retirement into the 1990s
923113 E. HAWTHORN STREET
1936 APPLEFORD BUILDING/ FIRST MISSION THEATER (now Village Interiors)
In 1936 the Applefords built the first Mission Theater, a single-story brick building with a two-story façade (the projection booth was the only second story room). Refitted over the years it has served as a bowling alley, slot car center, a popcorn factory and has recently been an interior design center.
1063238 N. MAIN AVE
1948 MISSION THEATER
Curtis and Dorothea Donath purchased this property in 1946 and by 1948 had built this theater (the second in Fallbrook) with living quarters upstairs. The new Mission was larger, had a crying room for mothers with babies, and a snack bar window that opened to the sidewalk. Don & Joan Mitterling bought the theater in the 1970s. The oldest business on Main Avenue, it is still in operation today, under new management.
1190125-127 E. MISSION RD
1930 SOLSO’S MARKET/ MANOR CLEANERS
This western style storefront appears to have been originally two buildings and was the home of the Solso’s Market for 20 years. Built in 1930 it has been utilized by several commercial entities including restaurants, a thrift store, and Manor Cleaner’s, the 2nd oldest business in Fallbrook (the mortuary, one block away is a few months older).
1292208 E. MISSION RD.
1885 WATKINS RESIDENCE (now La Reina Fashions/Barber/ Tailor Shops)
This commercial clapboard house was built in 1885 and has been converted from a residence. It is gabled in font and has shed style additions in the front extending out from the façade.
The Watkins family, who had the livery stable on a short walk away on Alvarado Street, lived here in the 1890s.

13107111 N. VINE ST.
1919 LUTHER MAZE RESIDENCE (now Marisco’s Restaurant)
This home was built for the Maze Family in 1919 who came to Fallbrook with their 2 sons and their niece in 1910, in a wagon leading a cow. It was their residence for over 40 years. The one-story clapboard building is gabled with double hung windows and has received additions on either side to be utilized as a restaurant. Luther and Cora were West Fallbrook civic leaders. The Maze auto garage was around the corner on Main
143655 E. ALVARADO
1889 M.J. SHAUL RESIDENCE/ BELL HOUSE (now private residence not open to the public)
Built in 1889 by M.J. Shaul, a local raisin grower, features double hung windows and large bay windows. This wooden building is the only remaining two story Victorian Italianate dwelling in the Fallbrook area. A private residence today, it has been the home of several prominent Fallbrook families over the years. Chuck & Bonnie Bell lived here most of their adult lives.
15105210 S. VINE ST.
1888 DR. PRUETT’S RESIDENCE (now Private Residence not open to the public)
Built in 1888 by the Pruitt Family this was the home of Fallbrook’s first physician. The structure originated as a single-story Victorian house but was remodeled in the early twentieth century to resemble a more modern craftsman home, compete with addition of a half story. Easter sunrise services by Fallbrook churches were once a tradition here through the 1910s. The Registry plaque has been lost.
1619318 W. FIG STREET
1892 METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH (now 1ST Christian Church)
Erected in 1887 at a cost of $3,500 this was the original home of the United Methodist Episcopal Church. Fallbrook resident and Civil War Medal of Honor recipient, William Pittenger, served as its minister in the 1890’s. Acquired by the First Christian Church in 1965, it has been modernized and remodeled with many additions to the original structure.
1773135 S. MISSION RD.
1892 JAMES GASTON RESIDENCE/ PITTENGER PARSONAGE (now Foundation for Senior Care)
Built in 1892 this frame house is basically square with a hipped roof with shiplap siding on an elevated base. It served as the parsonage for the Reverend William Pittenger while he was the pastor of the then Methodist Church (across the street) and it remained in the Pittenger Family for over 50 years. In the 1990s, the Country Day Care (preschool) was here.
1872238 W. MISSION RD.
1887 A. J. CLARK RESIDENCE/ FALLBROOK WOMAN’S CLUB (now Woman’s Club)
Acquired by the Fallbrook Woman’s Club in 1951, this 1887 house, was originally built on this lot by Almond Jack Clark (A.J.), West Fallbrook’s first banker. It was home to the Clark and then the Fallis families for over 60 years. Additions to the structure include a fireplace on the east side where the original entrance was located and an elevated stage in the meeting area.
19361319 LIVE OAK PARK ROAD
1896 FALLBROOK SCHOOL / RECHE SCHOOLHOUSE (now Fallbrook Historical Society, Reche School)
Built in 1896 at a cost of $620.00, this clapboard, typical American one room schoolhouse was built here on land donated by early pioneer Vital Reche. The school closed in 1939 and the students sent to West Fallbrook. The building and property was deeded to the Reche Community Service Club, which maintained the property until 2016 when it was deeded to the Fallbrook Historical Society. Prehistoric Native American grinding rocks and a 1920 adobe hut are also on the property. Open on the 3rd Saturday of each month 1pm to 4pm, or by appointment.
201031815 S. STAGECOACH LN.
1888 PALOMARES HOUSE (now Fallbrook Land Conservancy, Palomares House)
This single story folk Victorian ranch structure was built here in 1888 to be a residence by the son-in-law of the Lugardo Alvarado Palomares, the heiress of the vast Rancho Monserate upon which this classic farm house is situated. Rancho Monserate was subdivided and sold in 1910 to private investors for farming and ranching purposes. The house changed owners several times until the Fallbrook Land Conservancy acquired the property in 1991, to save it from being demolished for a Christmas tree farm. The Land Conservancy uses the building as their headquarters, and restored it to be used for meetings and community functions
211111730 S. HILL AVE.
1895 PITTENGER HOUSE (now Fallbrook Historical Society, Pittenger House)

Now part of the Fallbrook Historical Society Heritage Center Complex, this house was built in the 1890’s by the Reverend William Pittenger who had purchased 20 surrounding acres of property from Millard Neff, son of the original homesteaders. Pittenger planted citrus orchards. Used as a second home by the Pittengers, the house has had four subsequent owners. The decaying house was acquired by the Historical Society in 1981 and restored to the period.