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| Mission Delores |
Five Days Before the Declaration of Independence
I really enjoy visiting Missions, mainly because of their
rich history and beauty. When I learned that there was one located in San
Francisco and it was built on June 29, 1776 - five days before the Declaration
of Independence…I just had to visit.
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| Gift Shop |
The Mission Delores is located at 3321
Sixteenth Street between Delores Street and Church Street. If you prefer to
take public transit, you’ll find the Fillmore Electric Bus stops right at the
front door of the church and the “J” Church Street Car stops approximately one
block west from Church Street. If you arrive on a weekend, there is
complimentary parking in the Mission Delores parking lot. However I drove
along Delores Street and found parking right in front of the Church. When you
drive on Delores it is a two-lane street and when parking, I thought that I was
blocking one of the lanes but I noticed that there were a lot of cars doing the
same thing. I asked the Gift Shop Manager if there was any problem parking
along the grassy island (center divider) and he said that people have parked
there for years and he had never seen any problems. Here’s a tip, if you ever
partake in the 49 Mile Scenic Drive, you’ll pass right by Mission Delores.
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| The Church Interior |
When I first arrived I noticed that this mission was much
smaller than the many others I visited, however I was excited to see what was
inside considering this was San Francisco’s oldest building. Upon entering the
front door I was taken directly to the Gift Shop which is also small but packed
with interesting things for sale to include jewelry, crosses, tiling, books,
and assorted souvenirs. The Gift Shop and Tour is open from 9am to 4pm, see http://www.missionscalifornia.com/keyfacts/san-francisco.html
for more information. To gain entrance into the mission you are required to
pay $5.00 fee per adult which is discounted if you are a student or senior
citizen.
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| Church Altar |
I paid the entrance fee and walked through a small door
which led me directly into the church. It was beautiful and you could just
feel the history all around you. The church itself was not very big roughly 22
feet wide and 114 feet long and when I looked up at the ceiling I noticed
interesting zigzag Native American designs that I later learned was painted
with vegetable dyes. There were two rows of pews aligned along the walls of the
church leading to the altar. On the right side was a beautiful mural that
captivated the wall from floor to ceiling and the closer I walked to the altar
I noticed a plaque embedded in the ground identifying names of those buried
within the Church. Looking directly at the altar I found some beautiful
religious carvings, paintings and statues that dated back to the 1796.
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| Native American Designs |
Once I left the main area of the church I walked into the
museum which was a small room that contained several artifacts distinguishing
the history of the church. On the walls were lithographs of the California
Missions as well as clothing used during the religious ceremonies of the San
Franciscan Era 1776-1846. The center displays were coveted with some of the
more sacred items from Father Serra himself who directed the construction of
the Mission Delores.
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| Artifacts over the Years |
Upon leaving the museum I found myself outside in a small quad area with benches, a fountain and of course…the
restrooms. From here you can walk directly into the cemetery which in the
center is a statue of Father Junipero Serra who again was the Founder and First
President of the California Missions, he died on August 28, 1784.
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| Courtyard Leading to Cemetary |
According to
the four-page leaflet given to you when you take the mission tour, the cemetery
was much larger in the olden days and the graves were marked simply with wooden
crosses that deteriorated over time. As the cemetery gradually got smaller the
unidentified bodies were later buried in a common grave. The people buried
there were those after the Gold Rush Era when San Francisco began growing as a
thriving city. However, the First Governor of Alta under Mexican rule, Don
Luis Antonio Argüello and Don Francisco de Haro, the first Mayor of San
Francisco are laid to rest in the cemetery.
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| Cemetary |
Also buried there are the victims
of the Vigilantes, James P. Casey, Charles Cora and James Sullivan. For more
information on the Vigilantes, please visit http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist11/vigilantes.html.
Sadly there was a French family killed during the tragic explosion of the Jenny
Lind Steamboat that was also buried at the Mission. See the New York Times
article date May 13, 1853, visit
here for more information.
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| News about the Jenny Lind |
I really enjoyed my visit, with spending some time in the
Gift Shop and paying for the Mission tour I would say in all it was about a
half-hour. Maybe longer if you took more time in the cemetery to see who was
buried there or to find the oldest dates. However, because of the rich history
it was worth the trip.
Travel Score:
For more information, please visit the Mission Delores website at: http://missiondolores.org/index.html
To read more about California Missions visit the link below:
Missions, San Francisco, Mission District,
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