Menifee is a town in Riverside County at the center of Southern Carolina. The city's original inhabitants were the Luiseño who called themselves ''People of the West''. The area was later seized by the Spanish in the 18th century. Then in 1850, during the Mexican-American War, the United States took over the domain from the Mexicans.

The name Menifee comes from Luther Menifee Wilson, a miner who discovered an important quartz metal ore. After Luther's discovery in the 1880s, Menifee became a mining area. Although in the middle of the 19th century Menifee was predominantly a farming area.

Menifee's development had not entirely commenced until the 1960s after the incorporation of Sun City. Del Webb, who was a construction contractor from Arizona, developed Sun City as a retirement community. Webb also used the same concept to establish Sun City in Arizona. Today Sun City is situated in a central neighborhood in Menifee and is a residential and commercial city.

Menifee has seen a lot of growth in recent years. Many new inhabitants have come from areas such as Los Angeles, San Diego, and Orange County, but it wasn't always like that. In the 1980s and 1990s, Menifee had the reputation of a master-planned community. Many residents, however, drove to other neighboring cities like Murrieta and Temecula for working, shopping, or dining. The lack of commercial businesses, industry-related occupations, and retail opportunities forced the Menifee residents to go to other cities.

In October 2018, a new Menifee city was launched after residents voted for the unification of the area's communities. It was on 3rd June 2008 that the residents decided to form the 26th city in Riverside County.