Mission San José is a Spanish mission located in the present-day city of

Fremont, California Fremont () is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. Located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area, Fremont has a population of 230,504 as of 2020, making it the fourth List of cities and towns in the San F ...

, United States. It was founded on June 11, 1797, by the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

order and was the fourteenth Spanish mission established in California. The Mission entered a long period of gradual decline after Mexican secularization act of 1833. After suffering decline, neglect and earthquakes most of the mission was in ruins. Restoration efforts in the intervening periods have reconstructed many of the original structures. The old mission church remains in use as a

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

of Saint Joseph Catholic Church, a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of the Diocese of Oakland. The museum also features a visitor center, museum, and slide show telling the history of the mission.

History

The original site considered by

Juan Crespí Juan Crespí, OFM (Catalan language, Catalan: ''Joan Crespí''; 1 March 1721 – 1 January 1782) was a Franciscan missionary and explorer of The Californias, Las Californias. Biography A native of Majorca, Crespí entered the Franciscan ord ...

in 1772 for what was to become Mission San José was in what is today known as the

San Ramon Valley The San Ramon Valley is a valley and region in Contra Costa County and Alameda County, in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California. Geography The valley is between the Oakland Hills on the west, and the Diablo R ...

. However, the Native Americans living in that area were very hostile towards the Spanish, so it was decided to locate the Mission farther south, in an area that is now part of Fremont, California. Work on the site of Mission San Jose commenced in May 1797, many years after Crespí's death, by Native American people from Mission Santa Clara, to the south, under the direction of Franciscan missionaries and secular Hispanic overseers. The location, on slopes overlooking the Fremont plain on the east side of

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...

, had been inhabited for countless generations by Indians who spoke the San Francisco Bay

Ohlone language The Ohlone languages, also known as Costanoan, form a small Indigenous language family historically spoken in Northern California, both in the southern San Francisco Bay Area and northern Monterey Bay area, by the Ohlone people. Along with the Mi ...

. The

Ohlone The Ohlone ( ), formerly known as Costanoans (from Spanish meaning 'coast dweller'), are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the Northern California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the l ...

lived a hunting and wild-plant harvesting lifestyle. Their food included seeds, roots, berries, the flour from acorns, small game, deer, fish, and shellfish. In 1797 most of the Indians, from the immediate vicinity of the mission site had already been baptized at Mission Santa Clara during the 1780s and early 1790s. It was these people who returned home to form the founding population of the new community.(Milliken 2008) Mission San José's walls were thick. The church is long, wide, high; made of adobe and redwood, the floor and the wall are made of tiles. By the end of 1800, the neophyte population had risen to 277, including both Ohlone and Bay Miwok speakers. By the end of 1805, all Indians of the East Bay south of

Carquinez Strait The Carquinez Strait (; Spanish: ''Estrecho de Carquinez'') is a narrow tidal strait located in the Bay Area of Northern California, United States. It is part of the tidal estuary of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers as they drain int ...

were at the missions. After a devastating measles epidemic that reduced the mission population by one quarter in 1806, people from more distant areas and new language groups began to join the Mission San Jose community. The first such language group was the Yokuts or

Yokutsan Yokuts, formerly known as Mariposa, is an endangered language spoken in the interior of Northern and Central California in and around the San Joaquin Valley by the Yokuts people. The speakers of Yokuts were severely affected by disease, mission ...

, whose speakers began to move to Mission San José from the

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; Spanish language in California, Spanish: ''Valle de San Joaquín'') is the southern half of California's Central Valley (California), Central Valley. Famed as a major breadbasket, the San Joaquin Valley is an importa ...

in 1810. Members of two more language groups, the

Coast Miwok The Coast Miwok are an Indigenous people of California that were the second-largest tribe of the Miwok people. Coast Miwok inhabited the general area of present-day Marin County and southern Sonoma County in Northern California, from the Golde ...

from present

Sonoma County Sonoma County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 488,863. Its seat of government and largest city is Santa Rosa. Sonoma County comprises the Santa Rosa-Petaluma ...

and

Patwin The Patwin (also Patween and Southern Wintu) are a band of Wintun people in Northern California. The Patwin comprise the southern branch of the Wintun group, native inhabitants of California since approximately 500. Today, Patwin people are en ...

from present Napa and Solano counties, moved down to Mission San Jose in the 1812–1818 period, but in smaller numbers than the Yokuts. By 1825 Delta Yokuts was the dominant language in the multilingual community of 1,796 people. Over the next few years speakers of yet another language group, Plains Miwok, moved to the mission from the north side of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. By the time Mission San Jose was closed as an

agricultural commune An agricultural commune is a Intentional community, commune based on Farmworker, agricultural labor. It is usually differentiated from other forms of collective agriculture by near-complete collective ownership of capital assets and collective co ...

in the mid-1830s, Plains Miwok was the predominant native language among its neophyte Indian people. Father

Narciso Durán Narciso Durán, OFM ( Catalan: Narcís Duran; December 16, 1776 – June 4, 1846) was a Spanish Franciscan friar and missionary. Durán arrived in California in 1806 after studying briefly at the missionary College of San Fernando de Mexico. He ...

became the pastor of the mission in 1806 and remained until he was replaced by Father

José González Rubio José González Rubio, O.F.M. (June 6, 1804 – November 2, 1875) was a Californio friar of the Franciscan order, known best for his long tenure as chief administrator of Mission Santa Barbara in Southern California. Early life González Ru ...

in February 1833 as part of a post-independence policy requiring the replacement of Spanish-born clerics with those born in Mexico. Durán trained the neophytes in music, organizing both a

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

and a 30-piece

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

that became famous throughout California. While at San José, Father Durán twice served as Father-Presidente of the Franciscan missions. The Mission's first permanent

Adobe Adobe (from arabic: الطوب Attub ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for mudbrick. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is use ...

church was dedicated with great ceremony on April 22, 1809. Valuable gifts of vestments, sacred vessels, religious statues, and paintings attest to the generosity of friends of the Mission in the Bay Area and abroad. The majority of vestments in the modern collection date from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The silken fabrics and embroideries were products of various textile centers of the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

, whose suppliers extended from

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. Mission San José was the center of industry and

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

. The site was chosen for the abundance of natural resources of the area including water, fertile ground, stones, and adobe soil suitable for building. Thousands of cattle roamed the Mission ranges, and

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

s of

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

and other crops were planted and harvested under the direction of the Padres. In 1868, it produced 4,070 bushels (110

metric ton The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the sh ...

s) of wheat and much produce, including grapes, olives, and figs. In 1832, the Mission's 12,000 cattle, 13,000 horses, and 12,000 sheep roamed Mission lands from present-day

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

to San Jose. San José was one of the most prosperous of all of the California missions. An 1833 inventory prepared by Father José González Rubio lists a church,

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

, guardhouse, guest house, and a women's

dormitory A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm), also known as a hall of residence, a residence hall (often abbreviated to halls), or a hostel, is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential qu ...

, in addition to the thousands of acres of crops and grazing land. This prosperity was not to last long, however. On August 17 of that year, the

Mexican Congress The Congress of the Union (, ), formally known as the General Congress of the United Mexican States (''Congreso General de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos''), is the legislature of the federal government of Mexico. It consists of two chambers: t ...

passed ''An Act for the Secularization of the Missions of California''.

Rancho period (1836–1853)

During the transition to full secularization, Father José González Rubio remained at the Mission as chief administrator for the church, while José de Jesús Vallejo (brother of General Mariano G. Vallejo) was appointed a civil administrator. The Mission lands were gradually parceled out to private landowners. In 1842, Father González Rubio was transferred to

Mission Santa Barbara Mission Santa Barbara () is a Spanish missions in California, Spanish mission in Santa Barbara, California, United States. Often referred to as the 'Queen of the Missions', it was founded by Padre Fermín Lasuén for the Franciscan order on Decem ...

. The native people fled but found themselves unable to readjust to their former way of life; many subsequently died of disease and starvation. The Mission buildings, granaries, orchards, and gardens were allowed to decay, and the great herds scattered.

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

Governor

Pío Pico Don (honorific), Don Pío de Jesús Pico IV (May 5, 1801 – September 11, 1894) was a California politician, ranchero, and entrepreneur, famous for serving as the List of governors of California before 1850, last governor of Alta California und ...

sold the Mission property to private interests in 1845 for $12,000. During the 1848

California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

, H. C. Smith converted the Mission to a general store, saloon, and hotel. The town of Mission San José became a thriving provision center at the gateway to the

Southern Mines The Stanislaus River is a tributary of the San Joaquin River in north-central California in the United States. The main stem of the river is long, and measured to its furthest headwaters it is about long. Originating as three forks in the hig ...

. The names of many pioneer families prominent in early California history, including Livermore, Peralta, and

Alviso Alviso is a district of San Jose, California, located in North San Jose on the southern shores of San Francisco Bay. Originally an independent town, founded in 1852, today Alviso is San Jose's only waterfront district, primarily residential in n ...

, were closely linked to the Mission.

California statehood (1850–1890)

The Rancho period ended with the succession of California to the United States in the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, and the establishment of California as a state in 1850. Some of the original exterior adobe

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...

es were removed on orders of the parish priest. On March 18, 1865, President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

restored the California missions to the Catholic Church. On October 21, 1868, a magnitude 6.3–6.7 earthquake on the

Hayward Fault The Hayward Fault Zone is a right-lateral strike-slip geologic fault zone capable of generating destructive earthquakes. The fault was first named in the Lawson Report of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake in recognition of its involvement in the ...

which runs through the grounds of the Mission shattered the walls of the Mission church and broke open the roof. Other Mission buildings, including the Tienda, the Priest's Quarters, and the Mission itself were also damaged by the earthquake. The site was cleared and a wood-framed, Gothic-style church was erected directly over the original red-tiled Mission floor. In 1890, a Victorian-style rectory was built over the site of a portion of the adobe wing which housed the Padres and served as the administration building during the Mission Era.

20th century and beyond (1900–present)

The original mission complex consisted of over 100 adobe buildings. Restoration efforts by the

Native Sons of the Golden West The Native Sons of the Golden West (NSGW) is a fraternity, fraternal service organization founded in the U.S. state of California in 1875, dedicated to historic preservation and documentation of the state's historic structures and places, the pla ...

in 1915 and 1950 saved the surviving portion of the Mission wing and converted it into a museum, set in the gracious surroundings of

flowers Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

and

palm tree The Arecaceae () is a family of perennial, flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are colloquially c ...

s. In 1956, the town of Mission San José incorporated with four others to become the City of Fremont. Plans to reconstruct the church of Mission San José were launched in 1973. The Victorian-style rectory was relocated to nearby Anza Street and the Gothic-style wooden church was moved to San Mateo where it has been restored as a house of worship by an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church group. After extensive archaeological excavations and planning, construction began in 1982 on a replica of the 1809 adobe church. Work was completed and the facility rededicated on June 11, 1985. The walls vary in thickness from 4 to . Old timbers and rawhide thongs demonstrate the practicality of the Padres who, having no iron nails for building, substituted the leather laces. Consequently, the lumber used in the reconstruction has been given a hand-hewn appearance. With its "simple and forthright" exterior, the Mission church stands as a tribute to those whose efforts made this dream come true. The richly decorated interior follows the descriptions in the historic inventories of the 1830s. The crystal chandeliers are copies of period pieces similar to ones listed in the old church inventories. Two of the original statues have been placed on the two side altars. ''Ecce Homo'', a figure of

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

clothed in a scarlet robe and crowned with thorns, stands on a balcony above one of the side altars. The other statue of

Saint Bonaventure Bonaventure ( ; ; ; born Giovanni di Fidanza; 1221 – 15 July 1274) was an Italian Catholic Franciscan bishop, cardinal, scholastic theologian and philosopher. The seventh Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor, he also serv ...

was carved from wood and then painted. The original baptismal font of hammered copper on a turned wood base has been returned to the church, as has the bell wheel used by the Ohlones during the sacred parts of the Mass. The ''reredos'' behind the main altar features a painting of Christ, a statue of

Saint Joseph According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern O ...

, and two carved figures: a dove represents the

Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is a concept within the Abrahamic religions. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in the world, particularly in acts of prophecy, creati ...

, and at the top sits

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

the Father with detailed golden rays surrounding him. The

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

and choir railings were copied from an original piece found in the museum during the reconstruction. The Mission cemetery (''camp Santo''), where a great number of Mission pioneers are buried, is situated to the side of the church. During the dig, the marble grave marker of

Robert Livermore Robert Thomas Livermore, also known as Don Roberto Livermore, (c. 3 November 1799 – 14 February 1858) was an English-born Californian ranchero. He emigrated to Alta California in 1822, eventually becoming a Mexican citizen and a prominent landow ...

was located in the original tile floor of the church. It was carefully repaired and replaced in the reconstructed church. Many prominent Spaniards are buried in the floor of the Mission church, but only Livermore's grave is marked. Thousands of Ohlones are resting in the Ohlone cemetery located almost a mile away from the mission down Washington Boulevard. Three of the original Mission bells were transferred from the destroyed adobe church to the wooden church of 1869, where they hung until the 1970s. The fourth bell had been given to a church in

and recast, but was returned to the Mission during the reconstruction of the bell tower. Now all four bells are hung, ready to ring on special occasions. In 1985, the restoration of the church was completed by the Committee for the Restoration of the Mission San Jose and the Catholic Diocese of Oakland. It is considered to be a near-perfect replica of the original church, though it incorporates a concealed structural

steel frame Steel frame is a building technique with a "skeleton frame" of vertical steel columns and horizontal I-beams, constructed in a rectangular grid to support the floors, roof and walls of a building which are all attached to the frame. The develop ...

which provides earthquake resistance. Further reconstruction of the missing part of the Padres' living quarters and a restoration of the surviving adobe wing are part of the overall plans for the Mission. Today, the Mission is administered by St. Joseph's parish, which includes the Mission building and the surrounding areas, an ordinary church building used to fulfill the daily needs of the parish, and a school serving students in grades 1–8. Missionsanjosecaliforniaplaque

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Mission San José at www.pressanykey.com
accessed July 22, 2005. * ''Hispanic Catholicism in transitional California: the life of José González Rubio, O.F.M. (1804–1875)'', by Michael Charles Neri, published 1997 by the Academy of American Franciscan History (v.14, history monograph series).

External links

Historic Mission San José
— ''museum and tour website''.
Saint Joseph Parish Old Mission San JoséThe Dominican Sisters of Mission San JoséElevation & Site Layout sketches of the Mission proper
*
Virtual Reality Panorama "Inside the Recreated Church at Mission San José"Official website of the Muwekma Ohlone Indian Tribe
— ''large collection''.
Early History of the California Coast, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mission San Jose San Jose 1797 in The Californias Buildings and structures in Fremont, California Churches in Alameda County, California Museums in Alameda County, California Religious museums in California Archaeological sites in California 1797 establishments in The Californias California Historical Landmarks National Register of Historic Places in Fremont, California Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in California Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland Culture of Fremont, California El Camino Viejo Tourist attractions in Fremont, California Historic American Buildings Survey in California Miwok