San Clemente, California is perhaps best known for one of its most famous residents, the 37th President of the United States, Richard M. Nixon (1969-1974). Nixon bought a Spanish mansion in the city in 1969, an event that suddenly put the small community of fifteen square miles of coastline and scenic hillsides in the world’s spotlight. When Nixon needed rest and relaxation, his preferred retreat was his Southern California ranch. She may have spent more time at Camp David in Maryland than her five predecessors combined, but that was mostly due to her proximity to Washington, D.C. She also held many historic gatherings at her Orange County home, making her widely known. as “The Western White House”.
With an average of 342 days of sunshine a year, who could blame President Nixon for wanting to get closer to San Clemente’s beautiful beaches and coastline with sweeping views and towering cliffs?
Interestingly for a city with this much sun, San Clemente, CA, was founded by Seattle, Washington’s 33rd mayor, Ole Hanson (or maybe not so strange, considering Seattle averages 226 cloudy days per year). After Hanson ended up as mayor in 1919, he made an unsuccessful attempt to become the Republican vice-presidential nominee in 1920 and then headed for California. Tired of politics or rain, or both, Hanson bought the land and designed a 2,000-acre community designed to resemble a Spanish village.
Hanson named the city after the island of San Clemente, which in turn was named by the explorer Vizcaino in 1602 after Saint Clemente, who was executed by tying him to an anchor and thrown into the sea, and which is celebrated at the Roman Catholic Church in November. 23, the day Vizcaíno arrived at San Clemente Island.
The city received its official name on November 23, 1925, and was officially founded on December 6, 1925, the day Hanson erected a tent across from El Camino Real and Del Mar and held a sale to parcel out parts of the community of his dreams, a day when the “best weather in the world” turned to rain and mud. Still, everyone knows that a little rain must fall in every life, and by the end of that day he had sold over $125,000 worth of property. In 15 months he had sold $3,100,000 and over $4,600,000 in less than two years. At the time of its incorporation on February 21, 1928, the city was considered the wealthiest city per capita in the United States. Even so, when Hanson first presented his plan to the Orange County Board of Supervisors, they rejected it because the concept of a planned community was too new and too foreign an idea for them at the time.
Today, San Clemente boasts some of the best beaches in California, a community center, libraries, miles of horseback riding trails, a 1,200-foot fishing pier, golf courses, tennis courts, parks, schools, businesses, and some of the best hotels and restaurants It is home to the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, Marine Corps Camp Pendleton, and world-famous surfing beaches like San Onofre Beach and State Park (home to Old Man’s and Trestles), T Street, North Beach, San Clemente City Beach, San Clemente State Beach and Calafia State Beach, San Clemente State Park and San Mateo State Park. San Clemente’s beach, condos, and vacation rentals are some of the most desirable destination properties in the United States, if not the entire world.
