La Purisima Mission

This article is about the mission in Lompoc, California. For other missions called La Purísima Concepción, see La Purísima Concepción.
La Purisima Mission

La Purisima Mission

Location of La Purisima Mission in California

Location 2295 Purisima Road, Lompoc, Santa Barbara County, California 93436
Coordinates 34°40′13.692″N 120°25′14.2206″W / 34.67047000°N 120.420616833°W / 34.67047000; -120.420616833Coordinates: 34°40′13.692″N 120°25′14.2206″W / 34.67047000°N 120.420616833°W / 34.67047000; -120.420616833
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
Designated 1970
Reference no. #NPS-70000147
Designated 1970
Reference no. #340
Website
http://www.lapurisimamission.org
The ruins of Mission La Purísima Concepción, c. 1900.

Mission La Purisima Concepción, or La Purisima Mission (originally La Misión de La Purísima Concepción de la Santísima Virgen María, or The Mission of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary) is a Spanish mission in Lompoc, California. It was established on December 8, 1787 (the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, hence the mission's name) by the Franciscan order. The original mission complex south of Lompoc was destroyed by an earthquake in 1812, and the mission was rebuilt at its present site several miles to the northwest.

The mission is part of the larger La Purísima Mission State Historic Park, part of the California State Parks system, and along with Mission San Francisco de Solano is one of only two of the Spanish missions in California that is no longer under the control of the Catholic Church. It is currently the only example in California of a complete Spanish Catholic mission complex.

History

Mission La Purisima was originally established at a site known to the Chumash people as Algsacpi and to the Spanish as the plain of Rio Santa Rosa, one mile south of Lompoc. (During the mission period, the Chumash spoke the Purisimeño language.)[11] The Viceroyalty of New Spain made an exception to the rule that no California mission was to be established within seven miles of any pueblo in Las Californias, as Lompoc was so small.

By 1803, the Mission Indians population had increased, by Indian Reductions, to 1,436 Chumash people. At the mission there were also 3,230 cattle, 5,400 sheep, 306 horses, and 39 mules. In the same year, there was a harvest of 690 fanegas of wheat, corn and beans (a fanega equaling about 220 pounds).

An earthquake on December 21, 1812, severely damaged the mission buildings. New buildings were constructed four miles east of the pueblo at their present location, which was known to the Chumash as Amúu, and to the Spanish as La Cañada de los Berros, now part of the reconstructed La Purísima Mission State Historic Park.[12] Ruins of the original mission are at 508 South F Street, near East Locust Avenue in Lompoc, California.

After Mexico won the Mexican War of Independence in 1823, Spanish funding ceased to the Santa Barbara Presidio. Many soldiers at the mission who were no longer being paid by the new Mexican government took out their frustrations on the local Chumash Indians. After a soldier apparently beat an Indian at nearby Mission Santa Inés, the Chumash Revolt of 1824 occurred at that mission. It spread to La Purisima Mission, where the Chumash people took over the mission for one month until more soldiers arrived from Monterey Presidio. Eventually, the Chumash lost their hold on the mission with many leaving the mission soon there after. However, many of the Indians who had sought refuge in the neighboring mountains during the revolt returned to the mission.

The altar inside La Purisima Mission.

Following independent Mexico's secularization of the Alta California missions from 1834 to 1843, the buildings of La Purisima Mission were abandoned, and the lands were granted Rancho Ex-Mission la Purisima. By 1934, only nine of the buildings remained intact.

In the 20th century, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) 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 sufficient land for the CCC 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 Purísima Mission State Historic Park

La Purisima Mission is now part of the La Purísima 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 is reportedly haunted by the Indians and Spaniards who died there and has recently been featured on the paranormal reality TV shows Ghost Adventures, The Othersiders, Scariest Places on Earth, and The Missions of California.

Historic designations

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Leffingwell, p. 79
  2. 1 2 3 Krell, p. 202
  3. ↑ Ruscin, p. 97
  4. ↑ Yenne, p. 104
  5. ↑ Ruscin, p. 196
  6. ↑ Yenne, p. 186
  7. ↑ Forbes, p. 202
  8. ↑ Ruscin, p. 195
  9. 1 2 3 Krell, p. 315: as of December 31, 1832; information adapted from Engelhardt's Missions and Missionaries of California.
  10. ↑ Krell, p. 202: The property was subsequently sold in 1874 due to its dilapidated state, and acquired by the State of California in 1935.
  11. ↑ "Purisimeño". Survey of California and Other Indian Languages. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
  12. ↑ "History: 1813–1834". La Purisima Mission.

References

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