Mission Santa Clara

Mission Santa Clara was the eighth one built in California. It was founded on January 12, 1777, by Father Thomas de la Pena.

Interesting Facts about Mission Santa Clara

Mission Santa Clara is the only Spanish mission that is now located on a university campus. It has rung its bells every evening at 8:30 p.m. for more than 200 years. Mission Santa Clara was named after St. Francis of Assisi's childhood friend. It was the first one in California that honored a woman.

1769 - 1800

Europeans first visited the Santa Clara Valley in 1769. They found a grassy plain covered with oaks and with lots of marshy land, creeks, and rivers. The called area Llano de los Robles, or Plain of the Oaks.

In 1774, an expedition went looking for places in the area to build future missions. They picked a location on the Guadalupe River.
 

In late 1776, a group of soldiers and priests arrived. Father Thomas de la Pena founded Mission Santa Clara de Asis, the eighth Spanish mission in California, on January 12, 1777.

A few days after the founding, Father Marguia arrived from Monterey with supplies and religious articles donated by churches in Mexico. Fathers de la Pena and Marguia stayed at Mission Santa Clara de Asis to begin converting the Indians, who lived in more than 40 small settlements in the area.

By the end of the first year, Mission Santa Clara de Asis had a church and a father's residence, and they were building a house. They had corrals for their horses and cattle, a bridge across the river, and they had planted some grain.
 

In mid-1777, Lieutenant Moraga and a large group of colonists arrived from Mexico. The fathers knew that civilians had a bad effect on their neophytes, and they wanted them to stay away from the mission.
 

It took until 1801 before the boundary between the civilian settlement of San Jose and Mission Santa Clara de Asis was fixed.
 

In January 1779, the Guadalupe River flooded. The fathers decided to move to a safer location. They set up a temporary church on higher ground in November 1779. In 1781, they chose a new site that was safe from floods but could be irrigated by digging a canal from the river.

Father Junipero Serra came to bless the new church and lay the cornerstone. The church was finished in 1784. Father Marguia designed it, but he died before it was dedicated. The grand celebration for the new church was attended by Fathers Serra and Palao, and by Governor Pedro Fages.

1800 - 1820

Mission Santa Clara de Asis was very successful at converting the Indians to Christianity, and the Fathers performed many baptisms. They taught their new converts the standard mission skills: cooking, sewing, and farming. By 1827, Mission Santa Clara de Asis had 14,500 head of cattle and 15,500 sheep.

In May 1805, the fathers heard that some of the unconverted Indians were planning a massacre. They called for help from San Francisco and Monterey. Then they found out that it was a rumor started by some Indians who wanted to frighten the fathers.
 

In 1818, an earthquake damaged the buildings. Fathers Viader and Catala built a temporary adobe church that was used until 1825.

1820 - 1830's

Mission Santa Clara de Asis moved to a fifth and final site in 1822. They started to build a new church. The complex was laid out in a large quadrangle. The church building was finished in 1825, and it stood until 1925.

Secularization

Mexico won independence from Spain in 1821, but it could not afford to keep the missions running. In 1836, Mission Santa Clara de Asis was secularized. It continued as a parish church into the 1840s.

The bishop of California decided to offer the buildings to Father John Nobili, who wanted to start a school. In 1851, the property was transferred to the Jesuit priests, who founded Santa Clara University.