Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa

Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa was founded in 1772 on a site located halfway between Santa Barbara and Monterey. It was named after Saint Louis of Anjou, the bishop of Toulouse. The Mission church of San Luis Obispo is unusual in its design in that its combination of belfry and vestibule is found nowhere else among the California missions. The main nave is long and narrow (as is the case with other mission churches), but at San Luis Obispo there is a secondary nave of almost equal size situated to the right of the altar, making this the only "L"-shaped mission church among all of the California missions.

History

In the year 1769, Gaspar de Portolà discovered San Luis Obispo on a journey north to rediscover the Bay of Monterey [1]. It was in this year when the area received its nickname as the la Cañada de los Osos ("Valley of the Bears") by diarist Padre Juan Crespi. In 1772, when food supplies started to dwindle, Father Junípero Serra sent hunters on expeditions to kill the bears in order to feed the mission inhabitants in the north. The huge success of the hunting expedition caused Father Serra to consider building a mission on the fertile lands. Upon further investigation he was convinced that San Luis Obispo would be a perfect site for a mission based on its surplus of natural resources, good weather and the proximity of the Chumash, a local friendly Indian tribe who could provide the labor for constructing the mission. The mission became the fifth in the mission chain constructed under Serra's supervision.[2]

On September 1, 1772 a cross was erected near San Luis Obispo Creek and Father Serra celebrated the first mass. However, briefly following the first mass, Father Junipero Serra returned to San Diego and left the responsibility of the mission’s construction to Father Jose Cavaller. Father Cavaller, five soldiers and two neophytes began building what is now Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa. Father Cavaller received help in the building of the Mission from the local friendly natives, the Chumash Indians. The Chumash helped construct palisades, which would serve as temporary buildings for the Mission. However due to several Indian tribes which were determined to get rid of European settlers, they set these buildings ablaze[3]. Because of this, Father Cavaller was forced to rebuild the buildings using adobe and tile structures. Beginning in 1794 Mission San Luis Obispo went through extensive building operations[4] wherein numerous buildings were constructed to accommodate the nearby Indians. The renovation was finally completed with the quadrangle in 1819, celebrated a year later by the arrival of two mission bells from Lima, Peru [5]. In 1830 Father Luis Gil y Taboada took over the Mission. In 1842 the death of Father Ramon Abella marked the last Franciscan at the mission.[6]

In 1845 Governor Pío Pico declared the Mission buildings for sale and sold everything except the church for a total of $510. John C. Frémont and his "California Battalion" used the Mission as a base of operations during their war with Mexico in 1846 (see Bear Flag Revolt). The Mission fell into ruins during the period of secularization and the priests that were left would rent out rooms to help support the Mission. The facility became the first courthouse]] and jail in San Luis Obispo County, California. In 1872, during the 100th anniversary of the Mission, improvements began, but real restoration did not begin until 1933. In 1970 the Mission was recognized as the "center of the City of San Luis Obispo" with the dedication of Mission Plaza.[7]