San Clemente, California
San Clemente is a coastal city in southern Orange County, California, United States. It was named in 1925 after the Spanish colonial island. Located in the Orange Coast region of the South Coast of California, San Clemente's population was 64,293 in the 2020 census. Situated roughly midway between Los Angeles and San Diego, San Clemente is a popular tourist destination in Southern California, known for its beaches, Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, and hospitality industry. San Clemente's city slogan is "Spanish Village by the Sea."
History
Indigenous
The Acjachemen are the Indigenous people of San Clemente.Spanish era
In 1776, Father Junípero Serra founded Mission San Juan Capistrano, and afterward the local indigenous people were dubbed "Juaneños" in Spanish. Both Native Americans and Spanish settlers established villages near the mission, and local indigenous people were conscripted to work for the mission.Mexican and Post-Conquest eras
San Clemente was included as part of Rancho Boca de la Playa, granted in 1846 by Governor Pío Pico to Emigdio Véjar. Following the American conquest of California, California came under United States sovereignty in 1848. In 1860, Véjar sold the rancho to Juan Ávila, grantee of Rancho Niguel, who later conveyed it to his son-in-law, Pablo Pryor.American era
Property rights to the land exchanged hands several times, but few ventured to build on it until 1925, when former Seattle Mayor Ole Hanson, an out-of-town major land developer, purchased and designed a community with the financial help of a syndicate headed by Henry Hamilton Cotton. Hanson anticipated that Californians weary of "the big city" would find refuge in the region's agreeable climate, stunning beaches, and rich land. He named the city after San Clemente Island, which in turn was named by the explorer Sebastián Vizcaino in 1602 after Saint Clement. Hanson envisioned it as a Mediterranean-style coastal resort town, his "San Clemente by the Sea". The city is one of the country's first master planned communities. He had a clause added to the deeds requiring all building plans to be submitted to an architectural review board in an effort to ensure future development would retain red tile roofs and white exteriors. This proved to be short-lived; an eclectic mix of building styles is found in the oldest parts of town.File:Casa Romantica de San Clemente, California.jpg|thumb|left|Casa Romantica, built in a Spanish Colonial Revival style in 1927 for Ole Hanson, founder of San Clemente.
Hanson succeeded in promoting the new area and selling property. He built public structures such as the Beach Club, the community center, the pier and San Clemente Plaza, now known as Max Berg Plaza Park. The area was officially incorporated as a city on February 27, 1928, with a council-manager government. Referring to the way he would develop the city, Hanson proclaimed, "I have a clean canvas and I am determined to paint a clean picture. Think of it – a canvas five miles long and one and one-half miles wide!... My San Clemente by the Sea." Soon after San Clemente was incorporated, the need for a fire station was realized. The headlines in San Clemente's first newspaper, El Heraldo de San Clemente June 1928 read: "Building to house local fire department will be constructed by popular subscription and turned over to the city when completed!" Individual subscriptions were received in the amounts from $6.00 to $1,500.00 from the citizenry.
One of the most iconic landmarks in San Clemente is the San Clemente Pier, first constructed in 1928 and rebuilt in 1939 and 1983.
When Ole Hanson came to San Clemente and decided to develop the city he moved into his epitome of the perfect house which was called Casa Romantica. Hanson owned Casa Romantica up until the Great Depression hit and the Bank of America foreclosed on the property.
File:President and Mrs. Nixon, with President and Mrs. Thieu in front of the San Clemente residence, for a private dinner... - NARA - 194497.tif|thumb|left|President Richard Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon at La Casa Pacifica, their Western White House, in 1973.
In 1969, President Richard Nixon bought part of the H. H. Cotton estate, one of the original homes built by one of Hanson's partners. Nixon called it "La Casa Pacifica" and it was nicknamed the "Western White House," a term for a President's vacation home. It sits above one of the West Coast's premier surfing spots, Trestles, and just north of historic surfing beach San Onofre. Many world leaders visited the home during Nixon's tenure, including Soviet general secretary Leonid Brezhnev, Mexican President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Prime Minister of Japan Eisaku Satō, Henry Kissinger, and businessman Bebe Rebozo. After his resignation, Nixon retired to San Clemente to write his memoirs. He sold the home in 1980 and moved to New York City. The property also has historical ties to the Democratic side of the aisle; prior to Nixon's tenure at the estate, H. H. Cotton was known to host Franklin D. Roosevelt, who would visit to play cards in a small outbuilding overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
In 1994, the Clarence Lobo Elementary School, named after Clarence H. Lobo, chief of the Acjachemen people from 1946 to 1985, was opened in San Clemente as part of the Capistrano Unified School District. The opening of the school was notable as the first school in California to be named after an Indigenous leader.
21st century
The historic "North Beach" area is home to the Miramar Theatre, the Casino Building, and Ole Hanson Beach Club, the latter two of which were renovated in 2010 and 2016.In 2020, the city, along with Dana Point and San Juan Capistrano, was sued by Santa Ana who argued the cities were participating in a practice in conjunction with local police departments and OC's Sheriff Department to detain homeless people and dump them in older neighboring cities.
Geography
San Clemente is bordered by Camp Pendleton and Trestles surf beach in neighboring San Diego County to the south, the Cleveland National Forest to the east, the city of Dana Point to the northwest, the city of San Juan Capistrano to the north, and the CDP Rancho Mission Viejo to the northeast.According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of. of it is land and of it is water.
Climate
San Clemente has a Mediterranean climate where temperatures tend to average in the 70s °F. The warmest month of the year is August, with an average high temperature of. The coldest month is December with an average high temperature of. The annual rainfall in 2010 was and the annual days of sunshine 310.Biogeography (San Clemente)
The most common native species: Common Yarrow, Red Sand Verbena, and Pink Sand Verbena.Demographics
After incorporation in 1928, San Clemente appeared as a city in the 1930 U.S. Census. Prior to that, the area was part of unincorporated San Juan Township.| Race / Ethnicity | Pop 1980 | Pop 1990 | Pop 2000 | Pop 2010 | % 1980 | % 1990 | % 2000 | % 2010 | ||
| White alone | 24,151 | 34,324 | 39,155 | 48,254 | 45,889 | 88.38% | 83.51% | 78.41% | 75.96% | 71.37% |
| Black or African American alone | 309 | 251 | 320 | 349 | 382 | 1.13% | 0.61% | 0.64% | 0.55% | 0.59% |
| Native American or Alaska Native alone | 188 | 145 | 167 | 193 | 180 | 0.69% | 0.35% | 0.33% | 0.30% | 0.28% |
| Asian alone | 389 | 1,067 | 1,293 | 2,269 | 2,513 | 1.42% | 2.60% | 2.59% | 3.57% | 3.91% |
| Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone | 389 | 1,067 | 62 | 78 | 88 | 1.42% | 2.60% | 0.12% | 0.12% | 0.14% |
| Other race alone | - | 28 | 58 | 89 | 353 | - | 0.07% | 0.12% | 0.14% | 0.55% |
| Mixed race or Multiracial | x | x | 948 | 1,588 | 3,209 | x | x | 1.90% | 2.50% | 4.99% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 2,288 | 5,282 | 7,933 | 10,702 | 11,679 | 8.37% | 12.85% | 15.89% | 16.85% | 18.17% |
| Total | 27,325 | 41,100 | 49,936 | 63,522 | 64,293 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% |
2020
The 2020 United States census reported a population of 64,293. The population density was. The racial makeup was 71.4% non-Hispanic white, 0.6% non-Hispanic African American, 3.9% non-Hispanic Asian, 5.0% non-Hispanic Multiracial and 18.2% Hispanic or Latino of any race. The city is one of six coastal cities in Orange County all of which have non-Hispanic white majority populations despite belonging to a county that has been majority-minority since the 2010 census.The census reported that 99.3% of the population lived in households, 0.7% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and no one was institutionalized.
There were 24,490 households, out of which 29.6% included children under the age of 18, 57.5% were married-couple households, 5.6% were cohabiting couple households, 21.6% had a female householder with no partner present, and 15.4% had a male householder with no partner present. 21.7% of households were one person, and 9.9% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.61. There were 17,422 families.
The age distribution was 21.1% under the age of 18, 8.4% aged 18 to 24, 21.8% aged 25 to 44, 29.7% aged 45 to 64, and 19.0% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 43.9years. For every 100 females, there were 98.6 males.
There were 26,647 housing units at an average density of, of which 24,490 were occupied. Of these, 64.0% were owner-occupied, and 36.0% were occupied by renters.
In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $134,735, and the per capita income was $73,051. About 2.9% of families and 5.7% of the population were below the poverty line.