Doheny Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189 Public Domain. Release under the CC BY Attribution license--http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/--Credit both “University of Southern California. Libraries” and “California Historical Society” as the source. Digitally reproduced by the USC Digital Library; From the California Historical Society Collection at the University of Southern California Send requests to address or e-mail given USC Libraries Special Collections specol@usc.edu
Description
Photograph of a drawing of San Antonio de Padua Mission, by Henry Chapman Ford, ca.1883. The mission stands about two to three-stories tall. The façade features three arched openings made to look like a belfry. A bell sits in each of the openings. To the left of the façade is an arcade. Several smaller buildings are located to the right of the mission. Photoprint reads "Ford etching as of 1870". "Due to the location of the rugged Santa Lucia Mountains, which tumble down to the sea in central California, the overland route between San Diego and the second mission at Carmel turned inland the latter half of the journey. Thus Father Serra chose an oak-studded valley east of the mountains for the site of his third mission. A bronze bell carried by a mule to that beautiful place was hung from a tree branch and Serra tolled it with vigor while shouting for the "gentiles" to come and receive the faith. When reminded that not a single gentile was in sight, Serra replied he hoped the bell could be heard around the world. So it was that the San Antonio Mission was founded on July 14, 1771. The mission grew slowly but steadily. In addition to the church and a huge quadrangle there was a gristmill and an extensive irrigation system, along with many other evidences of prosperity. Yet the Indian population dwindled because of disease even before secularization. Eventually the mission was abandoned. An antique dealer stripped off the roof tiles, which after were used on a railroad station. An earthquake left standing only the walls and brick facade of the church, plus a few lonely arches. San Antonio is unique in that its locale remains as it was originally. The Franciscans returned and began to rebuild in the 1940s, working by hand as did the first builders. Now San Antonio lives again." -- unknown author.
Type
image
Format
2 photographs : glass photonegative, photoprint, b&w 21 x 26 cm. glass plate negatives photographic prints photographs art
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