Mission San Francisco Solano
 Mission San Francisco Solano circa 1910.[1]
| |
| HISTORY | |
|---|---|
| Location: | Sonoma, California |
| Name as Founded: | La Misíon de San Francisco Solano de Sonoma [2] |
| English Translation: | The Mission of Saint Francis Solano of Sonoma |
| Patron Saint: | Saint Francis Solanus of Montilla, Spain |
| Nickname(s): | "Sonoma Mission" |
| Founding Date: | July 4, 1823 [3] |
| Founded By: | Father José Altimíra [4] |
| Founding Order: | Twenty-first |
| Military District: | Second [5] |
| Native Tribe(s): Spanish Name(s): |
Coast Miwok, Patwin, Pomo, Suisunes, Wappo |
| Primordial Place Name(s): | Huchi [6] |
| SPIRITUAL RESULTS | |
| Baptisms: | 1,008 [7] |
| Marriages: | 263 [7] |
| Burials: | 500 [7] |
| Neophyte Population: | 996 [8] |
| DISPOSITION | |
| Secularized: | |
| Governing Body: | California Department of Parks and Recreation |
| Current Use: | Museum |
| Coordinates: | 38°29′38″N, 122°45′59″W |
| California Historical Landmark: | #3 |
| Web Site: | http://www.napanet.net/~sshpa/mission.htm |
Mission San Francisco Solano is a former religious outpost established by Spanish colonists on the west coast of North America in the present-day State of California. Founded on July 4, 1823 by Roman Catholics of the Franciscan Order, the settlement was the last and northernmost in the twenty-one mission Alta California chain [9] (an attempt to found a twenty-second mission in Santa Rosa in 1827 was aborted).[10]. Named for a Spanish-born missionary to the Indians of Peru known as the "Wonder Worker of the New World," the post was originally planned as an asistencia ("sub-mission") to Mission San Rafael Arcángel.
Another mission bearing the name San Francisco Solano was founded in 1700 in Coahuila, Mexico.
Prehistory
History
During the years the Mission was active, General Mariano Vallejo resided in town. He was tasked with monitoring the activities of the Russians at their nearby settlement of Fort Ross (krepost' rus'), and with establishing peaceful relations with the Native Americans of the region.[11] Vallejo helped to build the town of Sonoma and even paid for the rebuilding of the small Mission chapel. There were always soldiers and settlers in the town of Sonoma during the Mexican period. The Franciscan Fathers grew grapes and produced sacramental wine from the first vineyard in the Sonoma Valley, which was first planted in 1825.
By 1839, the Mission was in ruins and unoccupied. Through the years the Mission saw many different uses, among these a blacksmith's shop, a barn, and even a storeroom. In 1846, European settlers took over the town in what has come to be known as the "Bear Flag Revolt." It was during this time that the Mission was sold to a man who used the chapel entrance as a saloon and stored his liquor and hay in the chapel. The Mission eventually became a parish church serving the Pueblo and Sonoma Valley until it was sold to a private interest in 1881. In 1903, the Historic Landmark League bought the remains of Mission San Francisco Solano. Restoration was completed in 1913. The restored chapel burned in 1970. Today, the Mission is part of the Sonoma State Historic Park. It is open to visitors and has a small museum located in the padres' quarters.
Other designations
- National Register of Historic Places #NPS-75000489 — Sonoma Plaza District
- California Historical Landmark — San Francisco Solano Mission Vineyard
Notes
- ↑ (PD) Photo: W. A. Haines
- ↑ Leffingwell, p. 161
- ↑ Yenne, p. 182
- ↑ Ruscin, p. 196
- ↑ Forbes, p. 202
- ↑ Ruscin, p. 195
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Krell, p. 315: as of December 31, 1832; information adapted from Engelhardt's Missions and Missionaries of California. Mission Solano witnessed the fewest number of baptisms, marriages, and burials of any settlement in the Alta California chain. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "krell315" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Krell, p. 315: as of December 31, 1832; information adapted from Engelhardt's Missions and Missionaries of California.
- ↑ Hittell, p. 499: "...it [Mission San Francisco Solano] was quite frequently known as the mission of Sonoma. From the beginning it was rather a military than a religious establishment—a sort of outpost or barrier, first against the Russians and afterwards against the Americans; but still a large adobe church was built and Indians were baptized."
- ↑ Hittell, p. 499: "By that time, it was found that the Russians were were not such undesireable neighbors as in 1817 it was thought they might become...the Russian scare, for the time being at least was over; and as for the old enthusiasm for new spiritual conquests, there was none left."
- ↑ Nordlander, p. 10