Adventure 049/101 - 20 : Mission San Rafael Arcangel

Capture California, the Game-2012

Adventure: 049/101 - 20 : Mission San Rafael Arcangel, 20th mission

Team: Thing One, Thing Two

Date:  September 20, 2012

Location: San Rafael

Description:

With its golden doors and towering steeples, Thing One thought this has got to be the most gaudiest mission. So we dutifully took out pictures. That is until we noticed a little structure off to the side. We then noticed a sign which showed the original mission layout. The glimmering church was not the mission, but the current one. The mission was the humble building to our right. Isn't that they way of God? Not to overpower, but to gently infiltrate our senses.

This mission is known as the most obliterated mission. Even our humble building is not the original, not even placed on the original location. The current buildings are rotated at a 45 degree angle from the original mission. Not a stone was left on top of each other.

Thing One and Thing Two spent some time inside the mission, contemplating the stations of the cross and the stain glass windows; taking in what we could.

From Wikipedia site:

This was one of the first missions turned over to the Mexican government in 1833. In 1840, there were 150 Indians still at the Mission. By 1844, Mission San Rafael Arcángel had been abandoned; what was left of the empty buildings was sold for $8,000 in 1846. The Mission was used by John C. Fremont as his headquarters during the battles to make California a United States possession (see Bear Flag Revolt). In 1847, a priest was once again living at the Mission. A new parish church was built near the old chapel ruins in 1861, and, in 1870, the rest of the ruins were removed to make room for the City of San Rafael. All that was left of the Mission was a single pear tree from the old Mission's orchard, it is for this reason that San Rafael is known as the "most obliterated of California's missions."

From California Missions Resource Center site:

Mission Site: 15 miles north of San Francisco at the native site of 'Anaguani. Since San Rafael was intended to be a "hospital" asistencia, a key consideration was that the location be in a sunnier and more protected environment than San Francisco, which was foggy, damp and windy. The original mission buildings were razed in 1870. In 1919 the new St. Raphael Parish Church, with an imposing tower, was built on the site of the original chapel.
Layout: No effort was made to build a full complex. The initial building was a structure that measured 87 feet in length and 42 feet in width. It contained a hospital, chapel, padre's quarters and a storage area.
Significant Event(s): San Rafael was badly damaged in an Indian attack led by Chiefs Marin and Quintin in February, 1829. Loyal neophytes saved the life of the mission padre, Fr. Juan Amoros, by hiding him in the marshes.

Interesting Facts: 

Under the able leadership of Fr. Gil y Taboada, San Rafael became California's first sanitarium.
San Rafael maintained a substantial boat building operation, since boats were required to facilitate travel across the bay.
In 1846 John C. Fremont used the mission as his headquarters during the Mexican American War
After the mission ruins were removed in 1870, all that remained of the old mission site was a solitary pear tree. In 1909 the Native Sons of the Golden West erected a bell and sign on the original site.

From California State Parks site:

This mission is located 20 miles north of San Francisco at the foot of Mount Tamalpais. It was established as a sanitarium and hospital for San Francisco neophytes suffering from depression and disease. The one padre in California who had medical training, Luis Gil y Taboado was so successful that other missions soon began sending their sick Indians. Within five years it was raised to full mission status and dedicated to the patron of health in 1817. The small church with star windows was modeled after Carmel, however the structure was torn down in 1870 to be used for firewood. Today a chapel at the site duplicates most of the original mission church.
 1104 Fifth Ave., San Rafael, 94901, (415) 454-8141