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Mission La Purísima Concepción
Mission La Purísima Concepción, located in Lompoc, was founded December 8th, 1787 by Padre Lasuén and named the Immaculate Conception of Mary the Most Pure. Eleventh in the California chain of missions, the mission was situated in a rich and fertile valley. In 1788 the first buildings were begun and the mission was complete in…
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Mission Santa Barbara
Mission Santa Barbara, the tenth mission in the California Mission Chain, was founded on the Feast of Saint Barbara, December 4th, 1786 by Father Fermin de Lasuén. The legend holds that, when still a girl, Saint Barbara was beheaded by her father for following the Christian Faith. In 1782, the Spanish Governor Felipe de Neve began…
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Mission San Buenaventura
Mission San Buenaventura, located in Ventura, was founded March 31, 1782 by Padre Junípero Serra and named for Saint Bonaventure. The first church was destroyed by the 1812 earthquake and rebuilt in 1816. San Buenaventura is ninth in the chain of missions and the last to be founded by Father Serra before his death. For…
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Mission Santa Clara de Asis
Mission Santa Clara de Asis, located in Santa Clara, approximately 40 miles southeast of San Francisco, was the eighth mission in the chain. Founded in 1777 by Father Serra, the mission was important as the second of two settlements placed near the great San Francisco port to protect it from enemy attack or occupation. The Indians…
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Mission San Juan Capistrano
Mission San Juan Capistrano was founded on October 30, 1775 to interrupt the long journey between Mission San Diego de Alcalá and Mission San Gabriel Arcángel. Mission San Juan Capistrano was originally established by Father Fermin Lasuén but just eight days after its foundation rumors that the Indians had attacked Mission San Diego de Alcalá came…
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Mission San Francisco de Asis
Mission San Francisco de Asis was founded June 26th, 1776 by Padre Francisco Palou and named for Saint Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan order. The mission is also known as Mission Dolores because of a nearby water stream called “Arroyo de los Dolores”, in English “Creek of Sorrows”. Mission Dolores is sixth in…
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Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa
Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa was founded on September 1, 1772 by Father Junípero Serra on a site located halfway between Santa Barbara and Monterey. A cross was erected near San Luis Obispo Creek and Father Serra celebrated the first mass at the site. The mission was named after Saint Louis of Anjou, the…
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Mission San Gabriel Arcángel
Mission San Gabriel Arcángel was founded September 8th, 1771 by Padres Pedro Cambron and Angel Somera. The mission was fourth in the Mission Chain and was named for the Archangel Gabriel. In 1775 the mission was moved to its present site near the town of Montebello to put some distance between the military Presidio and the…
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Mission San Antonio de Padua
Mission San Antonio de Padua was founded July 14, 1771 by Padre Junípero Serra and named for Saint Anthony. It was the third mission to be founded in the chain, after San Diego and Monterey, the latter mission being moved to Carmel. The site, south of Monterey, had been chosen earlier and Father Serra lost…
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Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Carmelo
Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Carmelo, also known as Carmel Mission, was founded June 3, 1770 by Father Junípero Serra at the Royal Presidio of Monterey Bay. The mission was named for Saint Charles Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, Italy, in the 16th Century. In 1771 the mission was moved to another location, near the “Rio Carmel”.…