Mission San Juan Capistrano - San Juan Capistrano, CA - American Guide Series on Waymarking.com

Historic San Juan Capistrano is located right in the heart of the Mission. One of 21 all along California's coast from San Diego, to San Francisco. This is the 7th mission placed, and the only one in Orange County. Each mission is located within a day's journey on horseback and because Orange County is so small, there is only one mission in it's boundary.

"San Juan Capistrano was the only mission that became an officially designated pueblo in honor of Don Santiago Arguello, son of a Callifonira governor. There were then about 70 adobes, built by the mission and occupied by Indians. After the Mexican War the old mission name gradually came back into use. Today only 17 mission adobes remain, some still occupied, others falling into ruin. Capistrano depends chiefly on the citrus, vegetables, and cable in the environs, but it prizes the tourist traffic attracted by the mission.

Mission San Juan Capistrano (open 8-6; adm. 25¢), Main St. and Broadway (L), is now a ruin, reduced by earthquakes of 1812 and 1918; few of the subsidiary structures have been restored. Entrance to the mission is through an arched gateway at the south western corner of the outer wall. The picturesque mass of the ruined stone church is seen (L) above the pepper trees. It was this church with its Aztec carvings, some altar, and semi-Moorish design, that grave San Juan Capistrano its reputation for beauty. The tiny mud nests beneath the stone arches are homes of the Capistrano swallow, which appear in large numbers early on every St. Josephs Day, October 23, when they circle upward in the dawn and disappear toward Mexico. The birds' record for unvarying punctuality in the annual arrival and departure was shattered in 1939 when the birds left more than a month early."

Book: Los Angeles Page Number(s) of Excerpt: 349 Year Originally Published: 1931

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Date Logged Log User Rating   09/16/2016 bluesnote visited it