"A plaque on Old Town Front Street now salutes the contributions of Ed Dool.. " writes Carl Love of the Press-Enterprise - Nov 14th 2019

Veteran Old Town Temecula booster Ed Dool is seen in front of the Temecula Stage Stop mural he helped bring about. (Photo by Carl Love).

Old Town Temecula booster Ed Dool’s license plate references how long he’s been in Temecula. (Photo by Carl Love).

A plaque installed in front of Ed Dool’s Old Town Temecula business notes his accomplishments. He’s known to some as “The Godfather” of Old Town. (Photo by Carl Love).

If you’re going to be called “The Godfather” of a place, you’d better be something special.

Ed Dool is that to Old Town Temecula, a place he’s been around some 30 years. It’s also a place that had always been dead at night before he showed up.

Today, Old Town is happening 24/7. Much of what Dool’s done to help make it that way is crammed on the back of business cards he eagerly hands out.

His accomplishments are also described in a plaque recently installed at the Temecula Stage Stop that he’s operated for 27 years on Old Town Front Street.

And speaking of the street name, Dool led the charge to have it named that in 1998. Previously it was just Front Street. The new name led to 14 placards on the 15 Freeway approved by the state that drew lots of attention to the area.

As for his grandiose nickname, a local magazine writer called him that in a story in the 1990s. Dool said he was labeled that because he was so involved. He’s still doing what he can to live up to that billing.

Dool, 74, started coming here in the 1970s when his parents moved to Wildomar. His dad would take him around what was then called Rancho California and the son was impressed by how well the area was planned and knew he wanted to be part of it.

He moved here in 1989 and continued commuting to Wilmington to operate his auto business. Driving so far wasn’t a big deal back then, said Dool, who recalled wondering why the 15 Freeway, then wide open, was built so big. We all know why now.

He started his Temecula Shuttle in 1991 to take residents to area airports. Soon it became Temecula’s taxi service, too. During the big flood in Old Town in 1993, all his vehicles floated down the street. Still, he wasn’t about to let his dreams float away.

Dool the promoter liked what he saw when another one, developer Zev Buffman, roared in promising to turn Old Town into the country-western music capital of the west. Buffman told Dool he’d be his transportation guru and he worked as hard as anybody to tout the controversial project that eventually collapsed.

Dool just kept going, opening a transportation center, a wine-and-beer garden and a McDonald’s on his quarter-acre site. Then came his idea for the 150-foot long Temecula Stage Stop history mural adjacent to the businesses. Dool worked with Tony Tobin, Temecula’s most prominent historian at the time, to get it done.

And though Dool ran unsuccessfully for the city council in 2001, he said the city has been well run anyway, fulfilling the potential he saw so long ago.

“I call Temecula the La Jolla of Riverside County,” he said.

Temecula Mayor Mike Naggar said Dool is a big reason why.

“Ed was a pioneer. He was one of the first to take a chance on Old Town when it was nothing but tumbleweeds,” Naggar said. “He received a loan from the city and opened the Temecula Stage Stop and outdoor beer garden. It was the first of its kind in the entire region. He paid off the loan in full, early, and was paramount in helping jump-start Old Town.”

Dool is mostly retired now, living about a mile from the business he launched more than a quarter-century ago. He still comes to work often, helping as a consultant.

Dool often walks, passing through his beloved Old Town, The Godfather still, proudly surveying what he helped turn from comatose to alive and kicking.

Reach Carl Love at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.