Mission San Miguel Arcángel is a
Spanish mission in
San Miguel, California
San Miguel (Spanish for " St. Michael") is a village and census-designated place (CDP) in San Luis Obispo County, California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 2,336. San Miguel was founded by the Spanish in 1797, when Mission San Miguel ...
. It was established on July 25, 1797 by the
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
order, on a site chosen specifically due to the large number of
Salinan Indians that inhabited the area, whom the Spanish priests wanted to evangelize.
The mission remains in use as a parish church of the
Diocese of Monterey
''This article describes the present Diocese of Monterey in California. The entity previously known as the Diocese of Monterey from 1849 until 1859, and subsequently known as the Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles from 1859 until 1922, is the presen ...
. After being closed to the public for six years due to the
2003 San Simeon earthquake
The 2003 San Simeon earthquake struck at 11:15 PST (19:15 UTC) on December 22 on the Central Coast of California, about northeast of San Simeon. Probably centered in the Oceanic fault zone within the Santa Lucia Mountains, it was caused by thr ...
, the church reopened on September 29, 2009. Inside the church are murals designed by
Esteban Munras.
The mission was put on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1971
[ and was named to a ]National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
in 2006.[ Of California's missions, it is one that retains more than most of its layout and buildings, including a portion of its neophyte village.][
]
History
Father Fermín Lasuén Fermín or Fermin may refer to:
* Fermin
Fermin (also Firmin, from Latin ''Firminus''; Spanish ''Fermín'') was a legendary holy man and martyr, traditionally venerated as the co-patron saint of Navarre, Spain. His death may be associated with e ...
and Father Buenaventura Sitjar founded the mission on July 25, 1797, making it the sixteenth California mission
The Spanish missions in California ( es, Misiones españolas en California) comprise a
series of 21 religious outposts or missions established between 1769 and 1833 in what is now the U.S. state of California. Founded by Catholic priests o ...
. Its location between Mission San Luis Obispo
Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa ( es, Misión San Luis Obispo de Tolosa) is a Spanish mission founded September 1, 1772 by Father Junípero Serra in San Luis Obispo, California. Named after Saint Louis of Anjou, the bishop of Toulouse, the ...
and Mission San Antonio de Padua
Mission San Antonio de Padua is a Spanish mission established by the Franciscan order in present-day Monterey County, California, near the present-day town of Jolon. Founded on July 14, 1771, it was the third mission founded in Alta California ...
provided a stop on the trip that had previously taken two days.
A temporary wooden church was built with living quarters. The site was chosen as it was close to a Salinan Indian village called Vahca. In 1798 the small chapel was replaced. From 1816 to 1818 a new church was constructed with a tile roof and courtyard.
Mission San Miguel Arcángel land was sold off after the Mexican secularization act of 1833
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 ...
. The William Reed family lived in the buildings until 1848, when they were murdered by a band of thieves. The killers were tracked down by a posse in the foothills of Santa Barbara. Two thieves died in the ensuing battle, and the other three were tried and executed by firing squad. Upon secularization, the mission began to decay. Padre Abella, the last Franciscan at San Miguel, died in July, 1841.
In 1859 the U.S. government returned the mission to the Catholic Church. But with the buildings in poor condition, no priests were assigned to the mission; buildings were rented to some small businesses. In 1878 the Church reactivated the mission, and Rev. Philip Farrelly took up residence as First Pastor of Mission San Miguel. In 1928 the mission was returned to the Franciscan Padres, the same group who had founded the mission in 1797.
Features
* The Mission Arcade, a series of 12 arches, is original. The variety of shapes and sizes was planned and the Mission was known for this arcade.
* The first chapel on the site was replaced within a year of its construction by a larger adobe chapel, which burned in the 1806 fire.
* The current mission church was built between 1816 and 1818. It is long, wide, and high.
* The cemetery adjacent to the church holds the remains of 2,249 Native Americans listed in the Mission's burial records.
* The painted walls inside the church are the original artwork by artist Esteban Munras and other Salinan
The Salinan are a Native American tribe whose ancestral territory is in the southern Salinas Valley and the Santa Lucia Range in the Central Coast of California. Today, the Salinan governments are now working toward federal tribal recognition f ...
artists.
Mission bells
Bells were vitally important to daily life at any mission. The bells were rung at mealtimes, to call the Mission residents to work and to religious services, during births and funerals, to signal the approach of a ship or returning missionary, and at other times; novices were instructed in the intricate rituals associated with the ringing the mission bells.
Associated structures
The Rios-Caledonia Adobe
The Ríos-Caledonia Adobe is a historic adobe house in San Miguel, California. Built in 1835 by Petronilo Ríos, the adobe is a California Historical Landmark. Today, the Ríos-Caledonia Adobe is open to the public as a house museum and library. ...
was built in 1835 just south of the San Miguel Mission as a home for the overseer of Mission lands. This historic site is well preserved with the original Inn and Stagecoach stop now a museum and small gift shop. A building was added in 1930 that is now a unique history research library. The grounds are maintained by San Luis Obispo County Parks with picnic sites and restrooms available.
The Historic Rios-Caledonia Adobe is a California Historical Landmark (#936) and is listed on the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places (#71000190).
Gallery
File:MissionSanMiguelPlaza2008.JPG,
File:Ojo.jpg,
File:Belltower at San Miguel Arcangel.jpg,
File:Fountain at Mission San Miguel.jpg,
See also
* Spanish missions in California
The Spanish missions in California ( es, Misiones españolas en California) comprise a
series of 21 religious outposts or missions established between 1769 and 1833 in what is now the U.S. state of California. Founded by Catholic priests o ...
* List of Spanish missions in California
Franciscan priests established 21 missions between 1769 and 1833 in Alta California, accompanied by military outposts. Their goal was to spread Christianity among the local Native Americans, as well as to affirm Spanish, and later Mexican, cl ...
* USNS ''Mission San Miguel'' (AO-129) – a ''Buenaventura'' Class fleet oiler
A replenishment oiler or replenishment tanker is a naval auxiliary ship with fuel tanks and dry cargo holds which can supply both fuel and dry stores during underway replenishment (UNREP) at sea. Many countries have used replenishment oilers.
The ...
built during World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
* Ygnacio Coronel
Ygnacio Coronel (1795–1862) was a settler in the Pueblo de Los Ángeles of Mexican Alta California. He was a member of the Los Angeles Common Council.
Life
Jose Ygnacio Franco Coronel was born in Mexico City, during the colonial New Spain p ...
(1795–1862). In 1836, Coronel was appointed commissioner of the secularized Mission.
* List of National Historic Landmarks in California
This is a complete List of National Historic Landmarks in California. The United States National Historic Landmark (NHL) program is operated under the auspices of the National Park Service, and recognizes structures, districts, objects, and simila ...
Notes
References
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External links
Official web site
– Includes an online tour of the mission interior and some exterior
Indian Life at Mission San Miguel Arcángel
via The California Frontier Project
The founding of Mission San Miguel Arcángel
via The California Frontier Project
Elevation & Site Layout sketches of the Mission proper
Virtual Reality Panorama "Mission San Miguel"
Early photographs, sketches, land surveys of Mission San Miguel Arcángel
via Calisphere, California Digital Library
Early History of the California Coast, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary
Library of Congress, Americas Memory
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mission San Miguel Arcangel
San Miguel Arcangel
1797 in Alta California
Churches in San Luis Obispo County, California
History of San Luis Obispo County, California
Museums in San Luis Obispo County, California
1797 establishments in Alta California
California Historical Landmarks
National Historic Landmarks in California
National Register of Historic Places in San Luis Obispo County, California
Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in California
Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey in California
Religious museums in California
Salinan people