San Clemente is a coastal city in Orange County, California, United States. The population was 64,293 in at the 2020 census. Located on the California Coast, midway between Los Angeles and San Diego, the southernmost city of Orange County is known for its ocean, hill, and mountain views, a pleasant climate and its Spanish colonial-style architecture. San Clemente's city slogan is "Spanish Village by the Sea". The official city flower is the bougainvillea, and the official city tree is the coral. San Clemente is also the southernmost city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

Property rights to the land exchanged hands several times, but few ventured to build on it until 1925, when former Mayor of Seattle, Ole Hanson, an out-of-town major land developer, purchased and designed a 2,000-acre (8.1 km2) community with the financial help of a syndicate headed by Hamilton Cotton. Hanson believed the area's pleasant climate, beautiful beaches, and fertile soil would serve as a haven to Californians tired of "the big city." 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." 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.

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. The first constructed pier was built in 1928 and was 1,200 feet long. This pier was built at no cost to the residents and its intention was for fishing and pleasure. In 1939 and 1983 the pier was damaged due to storms but has since been reconstructed into the pier it is today. The pier hosts the Fisherman's Restaurant & Bar where people eat while watching the waves crash below. The pier is perpendicular to the San Clemente Beach trail which starts at North Beach and goes as far as Califia, extending 2.6 miles out along the beaches of San Clemente. The San Clemente Beach trail is a popular place for locals to walk or run, with the most crowded times being morning and around sunset. Dogs are allowed on the beach trail, however not on the beach.

San Clemente is located at 33°26′16″N 117°37′13″W (33.437828, −117.620397). To the south of town are Camp Pendleton and Trestles surf beach.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 19.5 square miles (51 km2). 18.7 square miles (48 km2) of it is land and 0.8 square miles (2.1 km2) of it (3.89%) is water.

San Clemente has a Mediterranean climate where temperatures tend to average in the 70s °F (20s °C). The warmest month of the year is August, with an average high temperature of 79 °F (26 °C). The coldest month is December with an average high temperature of 64 °F (18 °C). The annual rainfall in 2010 was 10.5 inches (270 mm) and the annual days of sunshine 310.

Famous Peoples From San Clemente

Sam Darnold

Samuel Richard Darnold (born June 5, 1997) is an American football quarterback for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at USC, where he won the 2017 Rose Bowl as a freshman, and was selected third overall by the New York Jets in the 2018 NFL Draft. At age 21, he was the NFL's youngest opening-day starting quarterback since the AFL–NFL merger. Darnold served as the Jets' starter from 2018 to 2020 until he was traded to the Panthers in 2021.

Darnold was born in Dana Point, California on June 5, 1997. He started playing basketball when he was five years old.

Darnold attended San Clemente High School in San Clemente, California. After playing baseball in his freshman year, he played football and basketball. During his high school basketball career, Darnold excelled, and was named South Coast League Most Valuable Player twice, along with being named to the all-CIF team. Basketball coach Marc Popovich stated Darnold's basketball skills helped translate into football, being the "only guy [I've] ever had who could get a defensive rebound and launch a 70-foot pass on target, pretty much in the same motion, to a guy breaking out in the fastbreak. It was almost Wes Unseld-like." Popovich added that Darnold could have played college basketball in the Pac-12 Conference or the Mountain West Conference "at worst."

San Clemente Points of Interest

San Clemente Pier
Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens
San Clemente Coastal Trail
San Clemente State Beach
Surfing Heritage and Culture Center