Mission San Francisco de Asis

Gaspar de Portola, on his second expedition along Alta California’s coast, made the first European discovery of San Francisco Bay in 1769.  Actually he stumbled on to it. Unlike other bays along the coast, the bay wasn’t easily recognizable from the sea, due to its landlocked nature. Portola’s intention was to find Monterey, but somehow he missed it and sailed right on by.  He continued on to what is now Pacifica where he anchored his ship. He formed a party of crewmembers and he and his men climbed to the summit of the coastal ridge, where they sighted the great bay. In a way, it was Spanish treasure seekers from the Philippines sailing the west coast of North America who were responsible for the bay’s name. In 1559, a Spanish galleon was shipwrecked at Pt. Reyes. The crew managed to survive and the captain named the site “Bay of San Francisco.” The name was later transferred to what we now know as San Francisco Bay.

    Upon receiving the news of Portola’s discovery, Spain immediately recognized the bay’s strategic importance and ordered the establishment of a presidio, pueblo and mission. Because supplies and manpower were scarce, the work had to be delayed.  Six years later the explorer Juan Bautista de Anza blazed an overland trail to Monterey. The Viceroy of New Spain, hoping to forestall the Russians and the English who were beginning to move south from the northlands immediately ordered Anza to lead settlers north to the bay. They successfully made the trek and as they stood atop a cliff overlooking what eventually would be known as the Golden Gate, the natural beauty impressed them. The group continued their search and soon came upon a lovely creek, which emptied into a lagoon.  This, it was decided, would make a perfect mission site. The location was named Arroyo de Nuestra Senora de los Delores.

    Seven years later in June of 1776, Father Francisco Palou, an assistant to Father Serra, celebrated Mass at the site, five days before the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The new mission was named San Francisco de Asis in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. Later, it became popularly known as Mission Delores.

    Unfortunately, the padres discovered that the site was far too swampy, so they moved the mission to what was thought to be a better site, which is where it stands today. They immediately began a building program and by 1791, the construction on a permanent church was completed.

    In the 1860s a larger brick church was built adjacent to the mission. Indian neophytes built the mission so well that it withstood the forces of the 1906 earthquake, however the brick church was destroyed. In 1913, a new church was constructed next to the mission and in 1917 a careful restoration of the mission was started. The church was remodeled in 1926, with design elements inspired by San Diego’s 1915 Panama-California Exposition. Pope Pius XII elevated the church to a Minor Basilica in 1952.

   The mission was not very successful when it came to native conversions. Local Indians didn’t like the damp weather. A measles epidemic put 5,000 of them in their graves. Disease was so rampant that the padres had to establish a hospital site where the climate was drier. A site was chosen north of the bay in what would eventually be San Rafael. Later, when more Indians and settlers came into that area, the hospital became Mission San Rafael Arcangel.

    Mission Delores was in competition with the nearby pueblo, Yerba Buena, for space for agriculture, so the mission established a rancho (estancia) down the peninsula. The site was a Costanoan Indian village before it served the agricultural needs of the mission. The rancho is now known as the Sanchez Adobe. It is located in Linda Mar, just off Highway 1.

    When gold was discovered in California, everything changed for both the sleepy pueblo and the mission. Yerba Buena, the original settlement, grew from 900 to 20,000 practically overnight. It soon was chartered as San Francisco county and city. The Mexican government had seized the mission buildings and by the time they were turned back to the Catholic Church very little was left.

    Today, an elegantly designed church is all that is what remains of the mission. Its next-door neighbor, the Basilica, dwarfs it.

    Mission Delores has the distinction of being the oldest intact building in San Francisco and the oldest intact mission church in the chain with the original redwood logs supporting the roof still in place. Mass continues to be celebrated in its beautiful interior.

Note: Pope Pius XII elevated Mission Delores to ta status of Minor Basilica in 1952.  It was the first designation of a basilica west of the Mississippi and the fifth in the United States.  Today the large church is called "Mission Delores Basilica," while the adobe structure retains its original name.