Mission San Fernando

Mission San Fernando was the seventeenth Spanish mission built in California. It was founded on September 8, 1797, by Father Fermin Lasuen. The name San Fernando de Espana was to honor Saint Ferdinand III, King of Spain.

Interesting Facts

Many travelers stopped at the mission. There were so many that the fathers kept adding onto the convento wing to accommodate them. The hospice (hotel) became known as the "long building" of the El Camino Real.

Also, actor Bob Hope is buried in the mission cemetery.

1797

The Spanish first discovered the San Fernando Valley in 1769. In the late 1790s, Father Lasuen, successor to Father Serra, wanted to close the gaps in the El Camino Real. In 1797, he established four missions in four months, including San Fernando Mission.

Francisco Reyes, mayor of the Los Angeles pueblo, owned the best land in the area. He got rights to the property shortly after Los Angeles was founded, and he raised cattle there. Some historians say Reyes got his land from the king and he was thrown off it. Others say he had only been using the land and gave it up gracefully.

The San Fernando Mission was founded on September 8, 1797, and named for Saint Ferdinand III, King of Spain in the 1200s.

Five Indian boys and five Indian girls were baptized at the San Fernando Mission that day.

The San Fernando Mission church was completed within two months after the dedication, and by then, more than 40 neophytes lived there.

Because it was so close to the Los Angeles pueblo, there was a market for the mission's goods. Its location close to Los Angeles and on a favorite traveling route made it unique.

1800 - 1830's

By 1804, nearly 1,000 Indians lived at San Fernando Mission. By 1806, they were raising cattle and producing hides, leather goods, tallow, and cloth.

In 1810, work began on the convento (priest's residence). It took twelve years to complete it.

After 1811, the native population began to decline, and productivity was threatened. By 1812, there were not enough workers to farm the produce required for the military in Los Angeles. When an earthquake damaged the buildings in 1812, there were not enough people to do the repairs.

Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1822. In the California province, people fought to control the mission land. A few Indians in the valley received land grants, but most of the surviving Indians remained dependent on the San Fernando Mission.

When Mexican Governor Echeandia arrived in 1827, Spanish Father Ibarra was in charge. Ibarra refused to give up his allegiance to Spain, but the Mexican government let him stay there because they couldn't find anyone else to run the operations.

Secularization

Starting in the 1830s, the California officials began taking over mission lands. They usually left the buildings under the control of the church. From 1834 to 1836, most of the Indians stayed. The rest of them looked for work in Los Angeles or joined relatives and friends who were still living in the nearby hills.

In 1835, Father Ibarra left because he could not tolerate the secularization. In 1842, gold was discovered on a nearby ranch. Prospectors overran the area. A rumor that the missionaries had been prospecting gold for years drew prospector to the church. They dug up the floor looking for buried treasure.

The fight between northern and southern Californians to control the land got worse. In February 1845, two armed groups met at the Cahuenga Pass between the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles. They shot at each other for half a day, but the only casualties were two horses and a wounded mule. The northerners gave up and left. In 1845, Governor Pio Pico leased the land to his brother Andres for $1,200 a year.

The San Fernando Mission was abandoned in 1847. From 1857 to 1861, part of it was a stagecoach station. By 1888, the hospice was used as a warehouse and stable, and in 1896, the quadrangle became a hog farm.

In 1896, Charles Fletcher Lummis began a campaign to reclaim the property, and conditions improved.