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In the late 1700s, Spain expanded its colonization of North America by building missions on what is now the California coast. This system was well established in New Spain (now Mexico) as a method to claim land and gain the labor of the Native people.
Misión San Francisco de Asís was the sixth mission in the system run by Father Junípero Serra. Although named after St. Francis of Assisi, the mission is often called Mission Dolores for the creek located nearby. There are about 36,000 bricks in the adobe structure that was completed in October 1776.
Misión San Francisco de Asís was the sixth mission in the system run by Father Junípero Serra. Although named after St. Francis of Assisi, the mission is often called Mission Dolores for the creek located nearby. There are about 36,000 bricks in the adobe structure that was completed in October 1776.
Prior to the arrival of the Spanish, this area was home of the Yelamu Ohlone village of Chutchui. The establishment of the mission permanently changed the land and the lives of the people living here. A mission was an entire economic community. Workshops existed. Crops were grown. Livestock grazed. Hides were traded for supplies. The diorama on display as well historical photos help to create a visual of this time period. As Yerba Buena (now San Francisco) developed and changed, the mission became neglected and dismantled. It spent years being part of the Rancho San Miguel owned by the Noé family. It was eventually returned to the Catholic Church in 1850 with a larger Basilica church built next door. |