The city was named by Greek immigrant Romonio Homonicholai, who emigrated from Naxos in 1889 (nearby Homeland is also named for Homonicholai, although, with a slight spelling variation, it was named for his patronymic, not his given name). The Homonicholai family planted a vineyard in the town as well as orange groves, and was the first to manufacture sangria in California.
The first blood oranges were cultivated in the United States in Romoland in the 1920s. In an attempt to build a larger market for the oranges, the Romoland Fruit Co. began in 1936 to market its blood oranges as "citrus tomatoes" on the idea that the word "blood" discouraged buyers. However, "citrus tomatoes" proved unsuccessful, and the Romoland Fruit Co. returned to marketing its oranges as "blood oranges" in 1937.
On October 1, 2008, a significant portion of Romoland became part of the City of Menifee.
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,764 people, 785 households, and 620 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 926.4 people per square mile (358.1/km²). There were 867 housing units at an average density of 290.6/sq mi (112.3/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 54.05% White, 2.50% African American, 1.74% Native American, 0.33% Asian, 0.18% Pacific Islander, 36.65% from other races, and 4.56% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 55.35% of the population.
There were 785 households out of which 43.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.1% were married couples living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.9% were non-families. 15.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.51 and the average family size was 3.87.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 34.8% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 27.9% from 25 to 44, 19.0% from 45 to 64, and 8.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 103.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.0 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $33,523, and the median income for a family was $37,574. Males had a median income of $23,850 versus $18,971 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $12,932. About 20.5% of families and 25.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.6% of those under age 18 and 20.6% of those age 65 or over.