The Mission San Francisco de Asís (), also known as Mission Dolores, is a historic

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

church complex in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. Operated by the Archdiocese of San Francisco, the complex was founded in the 18th century by Spanish Catholic missionaries. The mission contains two historic buildings: * The Mission Dolores adobe chapel was constructed in 1780s. It is the oldest structure in San Francisco. * The Mission Dolores Basilica was constructed in 1918. It was designated a minor basilica by

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

in 1952. Located in the

Mission District The Mission District ( Spanish: ''Distrito de la Misión''), commonly known as the Mission ( Spanish: ''La Misión''), is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Mission District's name ...

, the mission was founded on October 9, 1776, by Frs

Francisco Palóu Francisco Palóu (, ; 1723–1789) was a Spanish Franciscan missionary, administrator, and historian on the Baja California Peninsula and in Alta California. Palóu made significant contributions to the Alta California and Baja California miss ...

and Pedro Benito Cambón. The

Franciscan Order 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 ...

sent the two priests to the then Spanish Province of

Alta California Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...

to bring in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

settlers and evangelize the indigenous

Ohlone people The Ohlone ( ), formerly known as Costanoans (from Spanish meaning 'coast dweller'), are a Native American people of the Northern California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the late 18th century, the Ohlone inhabited ...

. The Ohlone provided most the labor which built the adobe chapel. The early 20th-century Mission Dolores Basilica replaced a brick parish church built in 1876 that was destroyed in the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.

History

1700 to 1800

The site of the future Mission San Francisco was scouted by the Spanish missionary Pedro Font in March 1776 during a visit to the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. The Association of Bay Area Governments ...

by the Spanish explorer

Juan Bautista de Anza Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto (July 6 or 7, 1736 – December 19, 1788) was a Novohispanic/Mexican expeditionary leader, military officer, and politician primarily in California and New Mexico under the Spanish Empire. He is credited as on ...

. The Spanish missionaries named the new mission San Francisco de Asís, in honor of

Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone ( 1181 – 3 October 1226), known as Francis of Assisi, was an Italians, Italian Mysticism, mystic, poet and Friar, Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans. Inspired to lead a Chris ...

, founder of the

. It became commonly known as Mission Dolores, after the nearby creek and water source, ''Arroyo de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores ( Our Lady of Sorrows Creek)'' On October 9, 1776, the missionaries dedicated a small chapel in present-day San Francisco as the Mission San Francisco. According to some sources, the chapel stood near the present intersection of Camp and Albion Streets''.''Young, p. 117 Members of the local Ramaytush Ohlone tribe are recorded as entering the mission in 1785. They would later provide the labor to build the new mission church. The construction of adobe walls for the Mission Dolores church began in 1788, with the Ohlone laborers manufacturing 36,000 bricks. By 1790, the walls were completed, plastered, and whitewashed.The missionary

Junípero Serra Saint Junípero Serra Ferrer (; ; November 24, 1713August 28, 1784), popularly known simply as Junipero Serra, was a Spanish Roman Catholic, Catholic priest and missionary of the Franciscan Order. He is credited with establishing the Francis ...

is recorded as having celebrated a mass at the chapel while it was still under construction. The Mission Dolores adobe church was finished in 1791. The new church had adobe walls that were four feet thick. The roof beams were

redwood Sequoioideae, commonly referred to as redwoods, is a subfamily of Pinophyta, coniferous trees within the family (biology), family Cupressaceae, that range in the Northern Hemisphere, northern hemisphere. It includes the List of superlative tree ...

and the ceiling displayed traditional Ohlone designs, painted in vegetable dyes. The mission complex at this time included a convent and facilities for agriculture and manufacturing.

1800 to 1848

The early 19th century saw the greatest period of activity at Mission San Francisco:

At its peak in 1810–1820, the average Indian population at Pueblo Dolores was about 1,100 people. In 1810 the Mission owned 11,000 sheep, 11,000 cows, and thousands of horses, goats, pigs, and mules. Its ranching and farming operations extended as far south as San Mateo and east to Alameda. Horses were corralled on Potrero Hill, and the milking sheds for the cows were located along Dolores Creek at what is today Mission High School. Twenty looms were kept in operation to process wool into cloth. The circumference of the Mission's holdings was said to have been about 125 miles.

In 1817, the Franciscans established the Mission San Rafael Arcángel in

San Rafael, California San Rafael ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Raphael (archangel), St. Raphael", ) is a city in and the county seat of Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of th ...

as an a''sistencia'' to act as a hospital for the Mission San Francisco de Asís. San Rafael became an independent mission in 1822. With the end of the

Mexican War of Independence The Mexican War of Independence (, 16 September 1810 – 27 September 1821) was an armed conflict and political process resulting in Mexico's independence from the Spanish Empire. It was not a single, coherent event, but local and regional ...

in 1821, the newly independent Mexico took control of

. Relations were strained between the new Mexican Government and the Franciscan overseers of the California missions. Supplies were scarce and over 5,000 Native Americans had died from disease and other causes at the Mission San Francisco. The Mexican Government decided to free the Native Americans who were under mission guardianship and give them mission lands. New regulations under the Mexican Secularization Act of 1833 forced the missions in 1834 to start selling their vast commercial properties. In practical terms, this meant that each mission could only own its church, its priests residence and small plots of land surrounding the church for gardens. The Mission San Francisco sold most of its property in 1836. By 1842, only eight Native Americans were still residing there.

1848 to 1900

After the

Mexican-American War Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

ended in 1848, the Mission San Francisco and the rest of Alta California became part of the United States. With the end of Mexican authority, the rules governing the California missions became defunct. In 1848, the

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 ...

brought a surge of American immigrants and commercial activity to the San Francisco area. In the 1850s, the city constructed two

plank road A plank road is a road composed of Plank (wood), wooden planks or wikt:puncheon#Noun, puncheon logs, as an efficient technology for traversing soft, marshy, or otherwise difficult ground. Plank roads have been built since antiquity, and were comm ...

s from the downtown area to the Mission District. The area soon became a popular resort and entertainment center. The Franciscans sold or leased some of the remaining mission land to developers who built saloons and gambling halls. By 1857, the Franciscans had turned control of the Mission San Francisco to the Archdiocese of San Francisco. During the late 19th century, the archdiocese converted part of the old convent into a two-story wooden wing for use as a seminary and priests' residence. The rest of the convent building became the Mansion House, a tavern. By 1876, the archdiocese had razed the Mansion House, replacing it with a large

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

brick church to accommodate more congregants than the adobe church The archdiocese also covered the adobe church with clapboard siding for both cosmetic and protective reasons. The siding was removed in a later renovation.

1900 to the present

The

1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 AM Pacific Time Zone, Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated Moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli inte ...

destroyed the brick church and damaged the adobe building. To prevent the huge fire sparked by the earthquake from engulfing the two buildings, firefighters blew up the convent and School of Notre Dame building across the street. In 1913, the archdiocese began constructing the Mission Dolores Church to replace the destroyed brick church. The architect Willis Polk restored the adobe building in 1917. The construction of the new Mission Dolores Church experienced delays due to the American entry into

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in 1917. It was finally completed in 1918. The church was remodeled in 1926, with the archdiocese adding churrigueresque ornamentation. These were inspired by exhibits at the 1915

Panama–California Exposition The Panama–California Exposition was a World's fair, world exposition held in San Diego, California, between January 1, 1915, and January 1, 1917. The exposition celebrated the opening of the Panama Canal, and was meant to tout San Diego as t ...

in San Diego, California. In 1952, Archbishop John J. Mitty announced that

had elevated Mission Dolores to the status of a

minor basilica Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectura ...

. It became the first minor basilica west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

and the fifth one in the United States. Today, the church constructed in 1918 is referred to as the Mission Dolores Basilica while the 1791 adobe chapel is called the Mission Dolores. The mission complex also includes a historic cemetery.

Other historic designations

* San Francisco Designated Landmark #1 – City and County of San Francisco *

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in the U.S. state of California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meetin ...

#327-1 – site of original Mission Dolores chapel and Dolores Lagoon * California Historical Landmark #393 – "The Hospice," an outpost of Mission Dolores founded in 1800 in

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ) is the most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It is part of the San Francisco Bay Area metropolitan region, and is located about south of San Francisco. San Mateo border ...

* California Historical Landmark #784 – El Camino Real (the northernmost point visited by Serra)

Art

Mission Dolores Mural

The Mission Dolores adobe chapel contains the Mission Dolores mural, painted in 1791 by Ohlone artists. The mural covers the entire rear wall of the building, behind the historic wooden altar. It measures 22 by 20 feet and includes two statuary niches. In 1796, the Franciscans installed a baroque-style relief sculpture called a ''

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...

'' in front of the mural. In later years, the mural was covered up with wooden boarding. The mural was rediscovered during a renovation in 1910. Part of the mural depicts the

Sacred Heart The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus () is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus Christ is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This devotion to Christ is p ...

s of Jesus and Mary. The mural also contains the image of a rooster, a Christian symbol of the resurrection of Jesus.

Junípero Serra statue

The Junípero Serra statue is located on the grounds of the Mission San Francisco complex. The cast stone sculpture was designed by the American artist Arthur Putnam and completed in 1909. It was cast between 1916 and 1917, and installed in 1918 when the mission was remodeled. Funding for the sculpture came from D.J. McQuarry and it cost $500 to cast. It is approximately 6 ft 6 in tall. The sculpture depicts Serra wearing a Franciscan friar's robe belted at the waist with a knotted rope and a

rosary The Rosary (; , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), formally known as the Psalter of Jesus and Mary (Latin: Psalterium Jesu et Mariae), also known as the Dominican Rosary (as distinct from other forms of rosary such as the ...

around his neck. The sculpture is on a concrete base. It is one of a series of allegorical figures commissioned by the estate of E. W. Scripps to depict California history. In 1993 it was examined by the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

's Save Outdoor Sculpture! program. The program determined that the sculpture was well-maintained.

Francis of Assisi stained glass window

The Mission Dolores Basilica contains a stained glass window of Francis of Assisi, created by the German artist Franz Xaver Zettler at the time of the church's construction.

Succession of rectors, pastors, and administrators

and Pedro Benito Cambón – June 27, 1776 (founders) *

– 1776 to 1784 * Eugene O'Connell – 1854 * Richard Carroll – 1854 to 1860 * John J. Prendergast – 1860 to 1867 * Thomas Cushing – 1867 to 1875 * Richard P. Brennan – 1875 to 1904 * Patrick Cummins – 1904 to 1916 * John W. Sullivan – 1916 to 1939 * Thomas A. Connolly – 1939 to 1948 (first auxiliary bishop, first rector) * James T. O'Dowd – 1948 to 1950 (rector) * Merlin Guilfoyle – 1950 to 1969 (rector) * Norman F. McFarland – 1970 to 1974 (last rector) * Richard S. Knapp – 1974, 1974 to 1983 (served first as administrator, then pastor) * John J. O'Connor – 1983 to 1997 * Maurice McCormick – 1997 to 2003 * William J. Justice – 2003 to 2007 (Became a bishop after he left Mission Dolores) * Arturo Albano – 2007 to 2015 * Francis Mark P Garbo – 2015 to present

Notes

References

* * * * * * * *

External links

Mission Dolores Basilica

Elevation & Site Layout sketches of the Mission proper

San Francisco Public Library – Photographs of Mission Dolores

Map of Mission Dolores and nearby water sources (from ShapingSF.org)

California Historic Plaque marking the original site of Mission Dolores at Camp and Albion Streets in SF

Mission Dolores Neighborhood Association

American Southwest, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary

Early History of the California Coast, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary

Listing, drawings, and photographs
at the

Historic American Buildings Survey The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

Ground plan of Mission Dolores, San Francisco, Ca
at The Bancroft Library * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mission San Francisco De Asis San Francisco de Asis Roman Catholic churches in San Francisco 1776 in The Californias Francisco de Asis Mission District, San Francisco 1776 establishments in The Californias Religious organizations established in 1776 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Roman Catholic churches completed in 1791 Roman Catholic churches completed in 1918 California Historical Landmarks Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in California National Register of Historic Places in San Francisco San Francisco Designated Landmarks Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco Tourist attractions in San Francisco Spanish Colonial architecture in California Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in California Museums in San Francisco Religious museums in California Junípero Serra Mission San Francisco de Asís