Ole Hanson OUR FATHER
Ole Hanson
OUR FATHER
Who gave us our little piece of heaven...
“I vision a place where people can live together more pleasantly
than any other place in America; where the whole city will be
a park; the architecture will be of one type and the houses will
be on sites where nearly everyone will have his view preserved forever.”
Ole Hanson
You can learn a lot from a good father. Fathers teach us how to
get along in the world. Our San Clemente father certainly did that.
Ole was a successful entrepreneur. He must’ve been brilliant
for he got his law degree, studied stenography, worked for a
mining broker, manufactured druggists sundries, traveled
extensively in the US and Europe, was a mayor, developer,
author and said to be an orator on the caliber of William
Jennings Bryant. There was even talk of Ole becoming a
presidential candidate. However he declined running in the
primary election against Calvin Coolidge. It’s hard to say if
Ole would’ve had time to build a dream city as President.
I guess we’re lucky Coolidge got the job.
Not only was Ole our city’s founding father but he was the
father of a lot of offspring. He had ten children.
That’s heroic! Especially of Mrs. Hanson.
Like Lincoln, Ole was born in a log cabin, but farther north,
in the north woods of Norway, Wisconsin, descendants of
Norwegian immigrants. After a railroad wreck in Texas,
doctors told Ole he would never walk again. Well, Ole just
wasn’t going to accept that fate. He bought a prairie schooner
and walked 2800 miles from Texas to Seattle!
Shortly after arriving in Seattle, Ole ran for state legislature.
Ole won by the largest majority ever recorded for a similar
candidate. Only ten men didn’t vote for him. Ten years later,
in 1918, Ole became mayor of Seattle. He received national
attention for quickly breaking the general strike.
Later Ole would dream of a “Spanish village by the sea.“ With
the help of a syndicate headed by Los Angeles millionaire
Hamilton Cotton, they founded our beloved San Clemente.
Ole was asked to be mayor but declined that too. That
distinction went to his business partner, Thomas Murphine.
Ole had the “Golden touch.” He came from nothing, dreaming
on a scale few men dared. Yes, he lost the Casa Romantica,
his residence on the San Clemente cliffs to the bank in 1933,
but so did many others. That didn’t stop him. In addition to
San Clemente, he did ventures in Seattle, Mexico City, Santa
Barbara and 29 Palms. Ole had tenacity, vision, took action
and spoke up for what he believed in. No stranger to the press,
at one time Ole was in 8,000 weeklies and authored several books.
Pat Bouman, Co-Curator of the San Clemente Historical Society said,
“Ole gave us this little piece of paradise. It was like Shangri la.
We have all benefited from it. It’s still a village, like he envisioned.”
Who’s to say what San Clemente might have become without the
vision of Ole. It may have developed into a characterless city.
Maybe no winding roads, and gasp, maybe no pier. What would
our “father” think of San Clemente today? He just might be pleased,
especially with the fine people his beautiful vision attracted here.
Ole’s old office is still there – in the Baskin Robbins building. I can
imagine him smiling as he watched the people strolling up and
down the streets of this Spanish village.
What Ole accomplished in a lifetime was amazing. What he left
as a legacy, even more so. How many people leave a city as their
legacy? Go to his former home, the Casa Romantica and check
out this man’s castle. You will surely run into the spirit of a
proud founding father, Ole Hanson.
Live like a hero!
Terri Marie
Terri Marie is the author of “Be the Hero of Your Own Game.”
If you’d like a free “year of cheer” send an email
to yearofcheer@aweber.com
Ole’s Life Lessons:
What can you learn from our founding father?
• When you have a dream, give it your all
We are living in Ole’s dream. To build his dream city,
he used all his financial resources. He wasn’t afraid to
give everything he had and San Clemente was the result.
• Know that when you are in the forefront, you get both
boos and cheers
To some, Ole was a hero, to others, like the union men,
he was a villain. You can’t be afraid to make enemies
when you voice a strong opinion. Don’t be afraid to do so.
It usually means you’re on to something when someone
strongly disagrees with you.
• Don’t be afraid of the Big Boys
In a telegraph to Russia, Ole challenged Lenin. He stood
up to the union workers in the Seattle General Strike.
But he also enlisted Woodrow Wilson’s help to construct
the successful Skagit Water Power Project for Seattle.
Whether standing with or standing against,
Ole could handle The Big Boys.
• Design a Dream … and then sell it.
Thinking of the dream is the easy part. The action of
selling the dream may stop lesser men. Don’t be a
lesser man or woman. After all, we have a great leader
to follow as residents of the San Clemente dream.
When you have a vision, you must sell it to effect change.
• Be patriotic
Ole lived his beliefs. He received international attention
speaking against communism. His patriotic speeches
helped sell liberty bonds worth millions.
• If you did it once, you can do it again (and you may have to)
Rumor has it he made and lost 5 fortunes. He got into heavy
debt in Seattle and went to Mexico City to recover his fortune.
And recover his fortune he did. Maybe it was just God’s plan to
move a man with vision like Ole around so he could build up
parts of the country.
• Pick a patron Saint to name the city after
I had always wondered what “Clemente” meant.
Ole named our city after Saint Clement, the
patron saint of lighthouses.
• Tell your dream to those who could help you
If Ole hadn’t told Hamilton Cotton his dream of a
“Spanish Village by the Sea,” Mr. Cotton, might not have
contacted Ole when he got the title to Rancho Los Desechos,
the land of San Clemente because he
remembered Ole talking about his dream.
• When you build something, build it well
It takes two men to open the doors that lead to the ocean
in Casa Romantica. Those doors completely shut out the
ocean noise. Sure wish I’d had that in my last apartment
• Choose a cause
Ole chose to quench the strike in Seattle in 1918.
He spoke out strongly and quickly.
• Get around and travel
Ole traveled around the world having a fascination
with how people lived. This helped him envision
the type of city we are blessed to live in.
Ole’s Dream
When Ole Hanson came to town
To lay the foundation of the city down
He had a dream that he could see
Of the Spanish village by the sea
He envisioned the plan, the stucco walls
The tiled roofs, the city halls
He sold that dream and paved our streets
Which hugged the hills with flowers sweet
To share this precious land by sea
To create the views for eternity
To give a second chance for all
Where hope grows high, where dreams grow tall
Ole’s dream in time became
San Clemente, the perfect name
He wrote and spoke for our nation’s health
And recreated his oft lost wealth
Yes when Ole Hanson came to town
Dug the dirt from fertile ground
Built a village here that still astounds
Paradise he dreamed and found
When we gaze out to the silver sea
And think how lucky we can be
To live the dream that Ole had
I’d say that’s a hero, our city’s dad
OUR FATHER
Who gave us our little piece of heaven...
“I vision a place where people can live together more pleasantly
than any other place in America; where the whole city will be
a park; the architecture will be of one type and the houses will
be on sites where nearly everyone will have his view preserved forever.”
Ole Hanson
You can learn a lot from a good father. Fathers teach us how to
get along in the world. Our San Clemente father certainly did that.
Ole was a successful entrepreneur. He must’ve been brilliant
for he got his law degree, studied stenography, worked for a
mining broker, manufactured druggists sundries, traveled
extensively in the US and Europe, was a mayor, developer,
author and said to be an orator on the caliber of William
Jennings Bryant. There was even talk of Ole becoming a
presidential candidate. However he declined running in the
primary election against Calvin Coolidge. It’s hard to say if
Ole would’ve had time to build a dream city as President.
I guess we’re lucky Coolidge got the job.
Not only was Ole our city’s founding father but he was the
father of a lot of offspring. He had ten children.
That’s heroic! Especially of Mrs. Hanson.
Like Lincoln, Ole was born in a log cabin, but farther north,
in the north woods of Norway, Wisconsin, descendants of
Norwegian immigrants. After a railroad wreck in Texas,
doctors told Ole he would never walk again. Well, Ole just
wasn’t going to accept that fate. He bought a prairie schooner
and walked 2800 miles from Texas to Seattle!
Shortly after arriving in Seattle, Ole ran for state legislature.
Ole won by the largest majority ever recorded for a similar
candidate. Only ten men didn’t vote for him. Ten years later,
in 1918, Ole became mayor of Seattle. He received national
attention for quickly breaking the general strike.
Later Ole would dream of a “Spanish village by the sea.“ With
the help of a syndicate headed by Los Angeles millionaire
Hamilton Cotton, they founded our beloved San Clemente.
Ole was asked to be mayor but declined that too. That
distinction went to his business partner, Thomas Murphine.
Ole had the “Golden touch.” He came from nothing, dreaming
on a scale few men dared. Yes, he lost the Casa Romantica,
his residence on the San Clemente cliffs to the bank in 1933,
but so did many others. That didn’t stop him. In addition to
San Clemente, he did ventures in Seattle, Mexico City, Santa
Barbara and 29 Palms. Ole had tenacity, vision, took action
and spoke up for what he believed in. No stranger to the press,
at one time Ole was in 8,000 weeklies and authored several books.
Pat Bouman, Co-Curator of the San Clemente Historical Society said,
“Ole gave us this little piece of paradise. It was like Shangri la.
We have all benefited from it. It’s still a village, like he envisioned.”
Who’s to say what San Clemente might have become without the
vision of Ole. It may have developed into a characterless city.
Maybe no winding roads, and gasp, maybe no pier. What would
our “father” think of San Clemente today? He just might be pleased,
especially with the fine people his beautiful vision attracted here.
Ole’s old office is still there – in the Baskin Robbins building. I can
imagine him smiling as he watched the people strolling up and
down the streets of this Spanish village.
What Ole accomplished in a lifetime was amazing. What he left
as a legacy, even more so. How many people leave a city as their
legacy? Go to his former home, the Casa Romantica and check
out this man’s castle. You will surely run into the spirit of a
proud founding father, Ole Hanson.
Live like a hero!
Terri Marie
Terri Marie is the author of “Be the Hero of Your Own Game.”
If you’d like a free “year of cheer” send an email
to yearofcheer@aweber.com
Ole’s Life Lessons:
What can you learn from our founding father?
• When you have a dream, give it your all
We are living in Ole’s dream. To build his dream city,
he used all his financial resources. He wasn’t afraid to
give everything he had and San Clemente was the result.
• Know that when you are in the forefront, you get both
boos and cheers
To some, Ole was a hero, to others, like the union men,
he was a villain. You can’t be afraid to make enemies
when you voice a strong opinion. Don’t be afraid to do so.
It usually means you’re on to something when someone
strongly disagrees with you.
• Don’t be afraid of the Big Boys
In a telegraph to Russia, Ole challenged Lenin. He stood
up to the union workers in the Seattle General Strike.
But he also enlisted Woodrow Wilson’s help to construct
the successful Skagit Water Power Project for Seattle.
Whether standing with or standing against,
Ole could handle The Big Boys.
• Design a Dream … and then sell it.
Thinking of the dream is the easy part. The action of
selling the dream may stop lesser men. Don’t be a
lesser man or woman. After all, we have a great leader
to follow as residents of the San Clemente dream.
When you have a vision, you must sell it to effect change.
• Be patriotic
Ole lived his beliefs. He received international attention
speaking against communism. His patriotic speeches
helped sell liberty bonds worth millions.
• If you did it once, you can do it again (and you may have to)
Rumor has it he made and lost 5 fortunes. He got into heavy
debt in Seattle and went to Mexico City to recover his fortune.
And recover his fortune he did. Maybe it was just God’s plan to
move a man with vision like Ole around so he could build up
parts of the country.
• Pick a patron Saint to name the city after
I had always wondered what “Clemente” meant.
Ole named our city after Saint Clement, the
patron saint of lighthouses.
• Tell your dream to those who could help you
If Ole hadn’t told Hamilton Cotton his dream of a
“Spanish Village by the Sea,” Mr. Cotton, might not have
contacted Ole when he got the title to Rancho Los Desechos,
the land of San Clemente because he
remembered Ole talking about his dream.
• When you build something, build it well
It takes two men to open the doors that lead to the ocean
in Casa Romantica. Those doors completely shut out the
ocean noise. Sure wish I’d had that in my last apartment
• Choose a cause
Ole chose to quench the strike in Seattle in 1918.
He spoke out strongly and quickly.
• Get around and travel
Ole traveled around the world having a fascination
with how people lived. This helped him envision
the type of city we are blessed to live in.
Ole’s Dream
When Ole Hanson came to town
To lay the foundation of the city down
He had a dream that he could see
Of the Spanish village by the sea
He envisioned the plan, the stucco walls
The tiled roofs, the city halls
He sold that dream and paved our streets
Which hugged the hills with flowers sweet
To share this precious land by sea
To create the views for eternity
To give a second chance for all
Where hope grows high, where dreams grow tall
Ole’s dream in time became
San Clemente, the perfect name
He wrote and spoke for our nation’s health
And recreated his oft lost wealth
Yes when Ole Hanson came to town
Dug the dirt from fertile ground
Built a village here that still astounds
Paradise he dreamed and found
When we gaze out to the silver sea
And think how lucky we can be
To live the dream that Ole had
I’d say that’s a hero, our city’s dad
posted by Terri Marie at 12:13 PM
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