Mission La Purísima Concepción
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- Other missions bearing the name La Purísima Concepción:
Puerto de Purísima Concepción (Yuma, Arizona)
Misión de la Purísima Concepción de Aquico (Hawikuh, New Mexico)
Misión de Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de Acuña (San Antonio, Texas)
Misión de la Purísima Concepción de Cadegomó (Baja California Sur, Mexico)
Misión de la Purísima Concepción de Caborca (Sonora, Mexico)
 La Purisima Mission |
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| Location | 2295 Purisima Road, Lompoc, Santa Barbara County, California 93436 |
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| Name as Founded | La Misión de La Purísima Concepción de la Santísima Virgen María [1] |
| English Translation | The Mission of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary |
| Patron | The Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary [2] |
| Nickname(s) | "The Linear Mission" [3] |
| Founding Date | December 8, 1787 [4] |
| Founding Priest(s) | Father Fermín Lasuén [5] |
| Founding Order | Eleventh [2] |
| Headquarters of the Alta California Mission System | 1815–1819 [6] |
| Military District | Second [7] |
| Native Tribe(s) Spanish Name(s) |
Chumash Purisimeño |
| Native Place Name(s) | Laxshakupi, 'Amuwu [8] |
| Baptisms | 3,255 [9] |
| Marriages | 1,029 [9] |
| Burials | 2,609 [9] |
| Secularized | 1834 [2] |
| Returned to the Church | 1874 [10] |
| Governing Body | California Department of Parks and Recreation |
| Current Use | Museum |
| Coordinates | 34°40′13.692″N 120°25′14.2206″W / 34.67047°N 120.420616833°W |
| National Historic Landmark | #NPS-70000147 |
| Date added to the NRHP | 1970 |
| California Historical Landmark | #340 |
| Web Site | http://www.lapurisimamission.org |
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.
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[edit] 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 (DPR). Today, the mission is no longer used as a Catholic parish. The mission has recently been featured on the paranormal reality TV show Ghost Adventures.
[edit] Historic Designations
- National Register of Historic Places #NPS-78000775 — original La Purisima Mission site
- California Historical Landmark #928 — original La Purisima Mission site
[edit] See also
- USNS Mission Purisima (AO-118) — a Buenaventura Class fleet oiler built during World War II.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Leffingwell, p. 79
- ^ a b c Krell, p. 202
- ^ Ruscin, p. 97
- ^ Yenne, p. 104
- ^ Ruscin, p. 196
- ^ Yenne, p. 186
- ^ Forbes, p. 202
- ^ Ruscin, p. 195
- ^ a b c Krell, p. 315: as of December 31, 1832; information adapted from Engelhardt's Missions and Missionaries of California.
- ^ Krell, p. 202: The property was subsequently sold in 1874 due to its dilapidated state, and acquired by the State of California in 1935.
[edit] References
- Forbes, Alexander (1839). California: A History of Upper and Lower California. Smith, Elder and Co., Cornhill, London.
- Jones, Terry L. and Kathryn A. Klar (eds.) (2007). California Prehistory: Colonization, Culture, and Complexity. Altimira Press, Landham, MD. ISBN 0-759-10872-2.
- Krell, Dorothy (ed.) (1979). The California Missions: A Pictorial History. Sunset Publishing Corporation, Menlo Park, CA. ISBN 0-376-05172-8.
- Leffingwell, Randy (2005). California Missions and Presidios: The History & Beauty of the Spanish Missions. Voyageur Press, Inc., Stillwater, MN. ISBN 0-89658-492-5.
- Paddison, Joshua (ed.) (1999). A World Transformed: Firsthand Accounts of California Before the Gold Rush. Heyday Books, Berkeley, CA. ISBN 1-890771-13-9.
- Ruscin, Terry (1999). Mission Memoirs. Sunbelt Publications, San Diego, CA. ISBN 0-932653-30-8.
- Yenne, Bill (2004). The Missions of California. Thunder Bay Press, San Diego, CA. ISBN 1-59223-319-8.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mission La Purísima Concepción |
- La Purisima Mission's Home Page
- Elevation & Site Layout sketches of the Mission proper
- The Missions of California - History and restoration of California's 11th mission
- La Purisima Mission's Home Page
- Purisima Mission Early photographs, sketches, land surveys of La Purisima Mission, via Calisphere, California Digital Library
- Early History of the California Coast, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary
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