San Juan Capistrano, California

History

Indigenous

The region was populated by the Acjachemen, referred to by the Spanish as Juaneños, an Indigenous Californian nation. They lived in the area for approximately 10,000 years, with some of their oldest villages being confirmed as over 9,600 years old. The mother village of Putuidem was located in what is now San Juan Capistrano, as well as the village of Acjacheme.

Spanish era

The settlement that today is San Juan Capistrano began in 1776 when the Spanish Franciscan missionary Junípero Serra founded Mission San Juan Capistrano, the seventh of the Spanish missions in California. The mission was built less than 60 yards from the native village of Acjacheme, which was exploited as a source of labor for the mission. The mission was named after Saint John of Capistrano, a 14th-15th century Franciscan saint. The 1812 San Juan Capistrano earthquake resulted in the deaths of thirty-nine Acjachemen people, thirty-one of whom were women, when the stone church at the Mission collapsed.

Mexican era

The Mexican Congress of the Union enacted the secularization of the Californian missions in 1833. In the mission period, 4,317 natives had been baptized at the mission (1,689 adults and 2,628 children). In that same period, 3,158 of those baptized had died. Some of the native people who survived the mission period continued to live at the mission for a short period after the secularization act, while others settled in the surrounding areas.

Each mission was appointed an administrator to oversee the transfer of the missions and their lands from the Franciscan Order to the Mexican authorities. Santiago Argüello, a member of a prominent family of Californios, was appointed administrator of Mission San Juan Capistrano. During his tenure, the community was briefly renamed "San Juan de Argüello", similar to what happened to San Juan Bautista in Northern California, which was briefly renamed "San Juan de Castro" after its administrator José Castro.

In 1844, Don Juan Forster and James McKinley purchased the former Mission San Juan Capistrano at public auction. Forster made his home there until 1864, when the mission was returned to the Catholic Church by President Abraham Lincoln.

American era

Following the American Conquest of California, San Juan remained a relatively small and rural community until the end of the 19th century. The It was considered an American town and incorporated into Orange County in 1876.

Padre O'Sullivan arrived in San Juan Capistrano in 1910 to recuperate from a recent stroke. He became fascinated by Mission San Juan Capistrano and soon set to work on rebuilding it a section at a time. O'Sullivan repaired the roof of the Serra Chapel using California sycamore logs to match those that were used in the original work. He brought in architect Arthur B. Benton of Los Angeles to strengthen the chapel walls through the addition of heavy masonry buttresses. The centerpiece of the chapel restoration was its retablo, imported from Barcelona in 1806 and donated by the Bishop of Los Angeles.

The restoration of the mission resulted in the town's emergence as a tourist destination, owing to its historic architectural style and proximity to the sea. The mission was used often in Hollywood productions, such as D. W. Griffith's 1910 western film The Two Brothers, the first film ever shot in Orange County. San Juan was incorporated as a city on April 19, 1961.{{Cite web |access-date = August 25, 2014 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141103002921/http://www.calafco.org/docs/Cities_by_incorp_date.doc |archive-date = November 3, 2014

From 2009 to 2017, the cliff swallows did not make their famous annual springtime return to Mission San Juan Capistrano, instead migrating to the Chino Hills, north of San Juan. The swallows changed their route because the Mission is no longer the tallest building in the area due to urban sprawl, and thus stopped attracting the swallows for nesting. Mission San Juan Capistrano embarked on a program to facilitate the return of the swallows, first by using swallow calls to attract the birds and then by building artificial swallow nests for the birds to use. As of 2017, the swallows have returned home to Mission San Juan Capistrano and are still celebrated each year at the town's annual Swallows Day Parade and Mercado Street Fair. In 2018, the town celebrated its 80th annual Swallows Day Parade and Fiesta de las Golondrinas ().

Geography

San Juan Capistrano is located in south Orange County and is bisected by Interstate 5.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 14.4 sqmi, all land.

Biogeography (San Juan Capistrano)

The most common native species: Common Yarrow, Red Sand Verbena, and Pink Sand Verbena.

Climate

|Jan record high F = 93 |Feb record high F = 94 |Mar record high F = 96 |Apr record high F = 101 |May record high F = 101 |Jun record high F = 107 |Jul record high F = 110 |Aug record high F = 104 |Sep record high F = 116 |Oct record high F = 108 |Nov record high F = 99 |Dec record high F = 93 |year record high F= 116 |Jan record low F = 25 |Feb record low F = 30 |Mar record low F = 32 |Apr record low F = 33 |May record low F = 39 |Jun record low F = 44 |Jul record low F = 48 |Aug record low F = 47 |Sep record low F = 45 |Oct record low F = 38 |Nov record low F = 35 |Dec record low F = 28 |year record low F = 25

Demographics

|align-fn=center 1860–1870 1880-1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020

San Juan Capistrano was first listed as an unincorporated place in the 1960 U.S. census as part of the South Coast census county division; and after incorporation, as a city in the 1970 U.S. census.

2020

The 2020 United States census reported that San Juan Capistrano had a population of 35,196. The population density was 2,439.1 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup was 58.6% White, 0.5% African American, 1.6% Native American, 3.5% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 20.6% from other races, and 15.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 38.9% of the population.

The census reported that 99.1% of the population lived in households, 0.5% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.4% were institutionalized.

There were 11,849 households, out of which 32.3% included children under the age of 18, 59.1% were married-couple households, 4.8% were cohabiting couple households, 23.5% had a female householder with no partner present, and 12.6% had a male householder with no partner present. 19.5% of households were one person, and 13.0% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.94.

The age distribution was 21.4% under the age of 18, 8.4% aged 18 to 24, 21.1% aged 25 to 44, 27.4% aged 45 to 64, and 21.6% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 44.1years. For every 100 females, there were 96.2 males.

There were 12,319 housing units at an average density of 853.7 /mi2, of which 11,849 (96.2%) were occupied. Of these, 75.8% were owner-occupied, and 24.2% were occupied by renters.

In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $127,893, and the per capita income was $60,670. About 4.8% of families and 7.3% of the population were below the poverty line.

2010

At the 2010 Census San Juan Capistrano had a population of 34,593. The population density was 2,419.9 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of San Juan Capistrano was 26,664 (77.1%) White (55.8% Non-Hispanic White),

The census reported that 34,506 people (99.7% of the population) lived in households, and 87 (0.3%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters.

There were 11,394 households, 4,030 (35.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 6,706 (58.9%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 1,089 (9.6%) had a female householder with no husband present, 526 (4.6%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 456 (4.0%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 87 (0.8%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 2,381 households (20.9%) were one person and 1,407 (12.3%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 3.03. There were 8,321 families (73.0% of households); the average family size was 3.44.

The age distribution was 8,518 people (24.6%) under the age of 18, 3,066 people (8.9%) aged 18 to 24, 7,804 people (22.6%) aged 25 to 44, 9,792 people (28.3%) aged 45 to 64, and 5,413 people (15.6%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 40.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.7 males.

There were 11,940 housing units at an average density of 835.2 per square mile, of the occupied units 8,462 (74.3%) were owner-occupied and 2,932 (25.7%) were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.3%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.7%. 24,052 people (69.5% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 10,454 people (30.2%) lived in rental housing units.

According to the 2010 Census, San Juan Capistrano had a median household income of $75,356, with 12.7% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

Economy

San Juan Capistrano is home to over 1,700 businesses. The city's unemployment rate was at 3.7% as of December 2017.

Top employers

According to the city's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report from June 30, 2022, the largest employers in the city are:

Arts and culture

San Juan Capistrano is also known for its cliff swallows. The protected birds return during migration, which originates in the town of Goya, Argentina, around Saint Joseph's Day (March 19) each year. The day is celebrated by the city's annual Swallows' Day Parade and other festive events. The swallows leave around October 23, the former feast day of Saint John of Capistrano. The 1940 hit song "When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano", written by Leon René, is a love song inspired by this annual event. Another birdwatching place is the Arroyo Bird House Park, containing many colorful birdhouses.

The Serra Chapel at the mission is the oldest in-use building in California. San Juan was also the site of one of the first places to produce Californian wine.

Putuidem Village, a 1.5 acre, is part of the original lands of the Acjachemen. Completed in 2021, it commemorates the history of the people called the Juaneño by the Spanish colonizers.

Registered Historic Places

• Carl Stroschein House
• Casa de Esperanza
• Domingo Adobe and Casa Manuel Garcia
• Esslinger Building
• Frank A Forster House
• Harrison House
• Joel R Congdon House
• Los Rios Street Historic District
• Miguel Parra Adobe- San Juan
• Mission San Juan Capistrano
• Montanes Adobe
• Richard Egan House
• Roger Y Williams House

Government

As of December 2025, the City Council members are John Campbell (Mayor), John Taylor (Mayor Pro Tem), Troy A. Bourne, Sergio Farias, and Howard Hart.

The current city manager is Benjamin Siegel.

In the California State Legislature, San Juan Capistrano is in , and in .

In the United States House of Representatives, San Juan Capistrano is in .

Additionally, in the Orange County Board of Supervisors, San Juan Capistrano is in the fifth district, represented by Katrina Foley since 2023.

Crime

The Uniform Crime Report (UCR), collected annually by the FBI, compiles police statistics from local and state law enforcement agencies across the nation. The UCR records Part I and Part II crimes. Part I crimes become known to law enforcement and are considered the most serious crimes including homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson. Part II crimes only include arrest data. The 2023 UCR Data for San Juan Capistrano is listed below:

Education

San Juan Capistrano is served by the Capistrano Unified School District. In the 2007–08 academic year, San Juan Hills High School opened with about 600 freshman students. It is the city's only public high school, although a sizable portion of San Juan Capistrano's residents attend high schools in neighboring cities since many of those schools are also part of the Capistrano Unified School District.

San Juan has four public elementary schools (grades K–5): Del Obispo Elementary School, Harold Ambuehl Elementary School, Kinoshita Elementary School, and San Juan Elementary School. The local public middle school (grades 6–8) is Marco Forster Middle School. Capistrano Valley High School (grades 9–12) lies just outside of the city's borders, but serves many of the city's students. A public continuation high school, Junipero Serra High School, also serves the area.

San Juan also has six private, non-secular schools. Capistrano Valley Christian Schools (grades pre-K – 12), Saddleback Valley Christian School (grades pre-K – 12), St. Margaret's Episcopal School (grades pre-K – 12), and JSerra Catholic High School (grades 9–12). Mission Basilica School (grades K–8) is located on the historic Mission grounds, utilizes some of the historic buildings as classrooms, and is part of Mission Basilica San Juan Capistrano. The other is Rancho Capistrano Christian School (grades K–8), located off Interstate 5 on Saddleback Church's south campus.

San Juan also has a private, secular school, Fairmont School (grade K - 12), located close to San Juan Capistrano Mission.

Media

San Juan Capistrano is served by two newspapers, the Capistrano Valley News (owned by the Orange County Register) and The Capistrano Dispatch. The Capistrano Valley News runs once weekly on Thursdays and The Dispatch runs on the second and fourth Fridays of each month.

The San Juan Capistrano Patch, an online-only news website, also serves the city.

Transportation

The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) operates bus routes within the city, connecting it to other parts of Orange County. 1 bus route runs through the city crossing 35 different bus stops: Route 91 via Paseo de Valencia/Camino Capistrano/Del Obispo Street.

Rail

The San Juan Capistrano station is served by Amtrak and Metrolink. The station is located one block away from the historic San Juan Capistrano Mission next to Los Rios Street in downtown San Juan Capistrano. Its proximity to the city's tourist attractions makes it a popular stop during the summer months.

Highways

Water Services

Water in San Juan Capistrano is provided by the Santa Margarita Water District. The district sources its water primarily from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which imports water from the Colorado River and the State Water Project, drawing from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Additionally, water is supplied through the Irvine Ranch Water District's Baker Water Treatment Plant, which treats water from both the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the Santiago Reservoir.

Sister cities

• Capestrano, Italy
• Ensenada, Mexico

Notable people

• Modesta Ávila (1867–1891), Californio ranchera and protester
• Anthony Cumia, radio host and podcaster
• Austin Hedges, MLB catcher
• Kyle Hendricks, MLB pitcher
• Mike Levin, U.S. representative
• Billy May, Arranger, Orchestrator, trumpet player
• Norm Sherry (1931–2021), catcher, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball

References

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