Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 25% of U.S. towns · #387 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of San Clemente was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. 6 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 4 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1948 on, and the census since 1930.
The San Clemente post office opened in 1926, the earliest record of the town by name.
San Clemente was named in 1925 after the Spanish colonial island (which was named after a Pope from the first century).
More historic than 25% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, San Clemente is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns, #387 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
Few California towns list much on the Register (a typical California town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so San Clemente’s 1.4 sits above most of its state (78% of California towns have fewer) while its 9 historic buildings outnumber those of 75% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how San Clemente’s history is told.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of San Clemente.
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.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltOscar Easley Block is built
In the archiveUSS LST-486 San Clemente 9 January 1944
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyBorn hereJennifer Kessy is born hereBorn hereJackson Hinkle is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2026Aerial view of California Coast, looking NNE around D…
2026Aerial view of California Coast, looking NNE around D…
2026Aerial view of California Coast, looking NE by East a…
2026Aerial view of California Coast, looking NE at
2026Aerial view of California Coast, looking ENE at
2021San Clemente, Orange County, California, United State…
2019Orange County Line
2016San Clemente Harbor, Plan D
2008June gloom hovering over Southern California on June …Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of San Clemente. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of San Clemente.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on San Clemente’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 667 people in 1930 to 64,293 in 2020, more than tenfold.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on San Clemente’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The San Clemente post office opened in 1926, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
San Clemente is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns, #387 of 847 in California. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
6 listings: 5 buildings, among them the San Clemente Beach Club (listed 1981, the first), and 1 historic district, the North Beach Historic District, with 4 contributing buildings. 9 historic buildings in all.
1% of San Clemente’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1983.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (10), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
