Santa Barbara County Notables
Source: Wikipedia
La Purisima Mission
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:La_Purisima_Mission.jpg
Source: http://www.lapurisimamission.org/
Source: http://www.lapurisimamission.org/
Webpage: http://www.lapurisimamission.org/
Location: 2295 Purisima Road, Lompoc,
CA 93436 -- 805 733-3713
Hours: La Purisima is open for self-guided tours from 9:00 a.m.
to 5:00 p.m. seven days a week.
La Purisima Mission
La Purisima Mission (with the original Spanish name being La
Misión de La Purísima Concepción de la Santísima Virgen
María) was founded on the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception
of the Blessed Virgin on December 8, 1787. The present and second
site is located east of the town of Lompoc, California between
Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. Lompoc was so small that the
Catholic Church made an exception to the rule which stated that
no mission was to be established within seven miles of any city
(the original site of La Purisima was only one mile from the
small town). It was moved four miles east of the town to its
present location after the Santa Barbara Earthquake severely
damaged the mission buildings on December 21, 1812. It is
currently the only example in California of a complete Spanish
Catholic mission complex.
History
By 1803, the mission's Indian population had increased to 1,436
and boasted 3,230 cattle, 5,400 sheep, 306 horses, and 37 mules.
In the same year, there was a harvest of 690 fanegas of wheat,
corn and beans (a fanega equaling about 220 pounds). A major
Indian revolt occurred at the mission in 1824. Spain had stopped
funding its various Californian missions after Mexico won its
independence, and many soldiers at the mission who were no longer
being paid took out their frustrations on the local Chumash
Indians. After a soldier apparently beat an Indian at Santa Inés
Mission, a revolt spread to La Purisima Mission, where Indians
took over the mission for one month until more soldiers arrived
from Monterey. Eventually, the Chumash lost their hold on the
mission with many leaving the mission soon thereafter. However,
many of the Indians who had sought refuge in the neighboring
mountains during the revolt returned to the mission.
Following the Mexican secularization of Californian missions from
1834 to 1843, the grounds of La Purisima Mission were abandoned,
and by 1934 only nine of the buildings remained intact. The
Civilian Conservation Corps pledged to restore the mission if
enough land could be provided to convert it into a historic
landmark. The Catholic Church and the Union Oil Company donated
enough land to proceed with the restoration. The nine buildings
as well as many small structures and the original water system
were fully restored with the mission's dedication occurring on
December 7, 1941, the same day the United States entered World
War II. Today, la Purisima Mission is the only example in
California of a complete mission complex.
La Purisima Mission is now part of the La Purisima Mission State
Historic Park within the California State Parks System. With a
visitor center and guided tours, the historic park is maintained
by the California Department of Parks and Recreation. Today, the
mission is no longer used as a Catholic parish.
This page was last updated August 2, 2009.
