MISSION SAN ANTONIO DE PALA
N 33° 21.938 W 117° 04.469
11S E 493070 N 3691824
Founded by Father Antonio Peyrei, OFM on June 13, 1816, Mission San Antonio de Pala is the only one of the original Spanish California Missions to survive in its purpose of service to the Native American Indians.
Waymark Code: WM22ZC
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 08/26/2007
Views: 83
From the mission webpage: The location of Pala was ideal: there was water, from which the Indian word, the name Pala, is derived, the soil was good, and there was a large Indian population. Farmers from San Luis Rey began growing corn in Pala before the Mission was established. The first mission establishment built at Pala in 1810 was the granary and other buildings soon followed.
By 1816, the interests of Mission San Luis Rey had grown so that Fr. Antonio Peyri established a chapel, which he dedicated to St. Anthony de Padua, the famous Franciscan Friar. The Pala Mission thrived. At the height of its development in the 1820's and 1830's, Fr. Antonio Peyri wrote, "San Luis Rey has a station called San Antonio de Pala, with a church, dwellings, granaries, and a few fields where wheat corn, beans garbanzos, and other leguminous plants were grown. There is, also, a vineyard and an orchard of various fruits and olives." At this time there were about 1300 Indians attached to the Mission.
After Mexico became independent from Spain in 1834, the California Missions continued to be administered by the Franciscan Friars. However, the Mission lands were among the most valuable in California, and consequently were secularized and confiscated by the Mexican government in 1835. Great Mexican landowners acquired the lands cheaply, but the Indian population refused to be exploited, and the Mission fell into decay.
Soldiers stripped the buildings of rood tiles and timbers. The adobe buildings were laid open to the weather. The adobe was not a very substantial material, and when it's plaster covering was neglected; it soon melted in the rain. The remote location of the Pala Mission protected it from some of the vandalism of the settlers
Marker Number: 243.00
Marker Name: ASISTENCIA SAN ANTONIO DE PALA
County: San Diego
Location:
3015 Pala Mission Road (CA state highway 16.)
Website: [Web Link]
Has Official CA Plaque: Not Listed
Marker Dedication Date: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
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