Mission District
















Mission Dolores c1880 — photograph by Taber

The sixth mission in California was established here by Padre Junipero Serra in 1776, and named Mission San Francisco de Asis a la Laguna de los Dolores (Saint Francis of Assisi at the Lagoon of Sorrows). It is the oldest intact building in the City, and one of the oldest Mission Churches in California.

Collection of SF Images




Mission San Francisco de Asís, also known as Mission Dolores, was founded on October 9, 1776. It was the sixth Alta California mission, founded by Lt. José Joaquin Moraga and Father Francisco Palou (both members of the de Anza Expedition). It is located in San Francisco within what was the Fourth Military District, and received the nickname "Mission Dolores" from the nearby Lago de los Dolores ("Lake of the Sorrows"), now vanished. It was named for St. Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan Order. Though most of the Mission complex (including the quadrangle and convento) has either been altered or demolished outright during the intervening years, the façade of the Mission chapel has remained relatively unchanged since its construction in 1782. At one point, wood clapboard siding was applied to the chapel walls as both a cosmetic and a protective measure; the veneer was later removed when the Mission was restored.

The Mission chapel, along with "Father Serra's Church" at Mission San Juan Capistrano, is one of only two buildings remaining standing where Father Junípero Serra is known to have officiated (although "Dolores" was still under construction at the time of Serra's visit). In 1817, Mission San Rafael Arcángel was established as an asistencia to act as a hospital for the Mission, though it would later be granted full mission status in 1822. After the California Gold Rush began in 1848, the City of San Francisco had grown tremendously; there were saloons and two race tracks on the Mission property. During the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the basilica was destroyed, while the Mission itself remained relatively unharmed.
The Mission is still an active church in San Francisco. Many people attend services in the Mission church and even more attend mass in the basilica next door. The Mission is open to visitors, and is located on Dolores Street near its intersection with 16th Street. The Mission District is the name of the San Francisco neighborhood adjacent to the Mission, and was one of the few areas of San Francisco not destroyed by the fires that sprang up in the aftermath of the 1906 'quake. — from Wikipedia
Mission Dolores, Dolores and Sixteenth Streets, 1892

The sixth mission in California was established here by Padre Junipero Serra in 1776, and named Mission San Francisco de Asis a la Laguna de los Dolores (Saint Francis of Assisi at the Lagoon of Sorrows). It is the oldest intact building in the City, and one of the oldest Mission Churches in California.

sf_mission_dolore.S






View north up Valencia Street and 27th Street, future site of St Lukes hospital c 1940

Two blocks south of Cesar Chavez at junction of Mission and Valencia.

sf_mission_valencia_1940.S











© Copyright 2005 SFImages.com - division of Business Image Group
All rights reserved
415-434-8745
www.businessimagegroup.com