Mission San Fernando Rey de España

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Another mission bearing the name San Fernando Rey de España is the
Misión San Fernando Rey de España de Velicatá in Baja California.

**Mission San Fernando Rey de España**
Location	Los Angeles, California
Mission San Fernando Rey de España, circa 1910.
Name as Founded	La Misión del Señor Fernando, Rey de España ^[1]
Translation	The Mission of Saint Ferdinand, King of Spain
Namesake	Ferdinand III of Castile
Nickname(s)	"The Mission of the Valley"
Founding Date	September 8, 1797 ^[2]
Founding Priest(s)	Father Fermín Lasuén
Founding Order	Seventeenth
Military District	Second
Native Tribe(s) Spanish Name(s)	Fernandeno, Gabrielińo
Owner	Roman Catholic Church
Current Use	Parish Church / Museum
Coordinates	34°16′08″N, 118°27′55″W
National Historic Landmark	#NPS–71001076
California Historical Landmark	#157

Today's Mission

Mission San Fernando Rey de España (originally La Misión del Señor Fernando, Rey de España), was founded on "The Feast of the Birth of Mary" (September 8), 1797. The settlement is located on the former Encino Rancho in the Mission Hills community of northern Los Angeles. In 1845, Governor Pío Pico declared the Mission buildings for sale and in 1846, made Mission San Fernando Rey de España his headquarters. The Mission was utilized for many things during the late 1800s; it was a station for the Butterfield Stage Lines; it served as a warehouse for the Porter Land and Water Company; and in 1896, the quadrangle was used as a hog farm. A hundred-pound bell was unearthed in an orange grove near the Mission in 1920. It carried the following inscription (translated from Russian): "In the Year 1796, in the month of January, this bell was cast on the Island of Kodiak by the blessing of Archimandrite Joaseph, during the sojourn of Alexsandr Baranov." It is not known how this Russian Orthodox artifact from Kodiak, Alaska made its way to a Catholic mission in Southern California.

San Fernando's church became a working church again in 1923 when the Oblate priests arrived. Many attempts were made to restore the old Mission from the early 1900s, but it was not until the Hearst Foundation gave a large gift of money in the 1940s, that the Mission was finally restored. In 1971, a large earthquake damaged the church, which had to completely rebuilt. The repairs were completed in 1974. It continues to be very well cared for and is still used as a parish church. In 2003 comedian Bob Hope was interred in the Bob Hope Memorial Gardens.

1 Other historic designations
2 Notes
3 References
4 See also
5 External links
6 Gallery

[edit] Other historic designations

National Register of Historic Places #NPS–88002147 — Convento Building
Los Angeles Historic–Cultural Monument #23
Los Angeles Historic–Cultural Monument #2355 — Convento Building

[edit] Notes

^ Leffingwell, p. 49
^ Yenne, p. 148

[edit] References

Fedorova, Svetlana G., trans. & ed. by Richard A. Pierce and Alton S. Donnelly (1973). The Russian Population in Alaska and California: Late 18th Century - 1867. Limestone Press, Kingston, Ontario. ISBN 0-919642-53-5.
Wright, R. (1950). California's Missions. Hubert A. and Martha H. Lowman, Arroyo Grande, CA.
Yenne, Bill (2004). The Missions of California. Thunder Bay Press, San Diego, CA. ISBN 1-59223-319-8.
Young, S., and Levick, M. (1988). The Missions of California. Chronicle Books LLC, San Francisco, CA. ISBN 0-8118-3694-0.

[edit] See also

Spanish missions in California
USNS Mission San Fernando (AO-122) — a Mission Buenaventura Class fleet oiler built during World War II.

[edit] External links

[edit] Gallery

Exterior corridor at the Mission	A view of the same location as at left, circa 1900.	Statue of Junípero Serra	The fountain of the Mission
Exterior of today's Mission