Mission San Diego de Alcalá
est. 1769
La Misión San Diego de Alcalá, the first mission in California, was established July 16, 1769 by Franciscan Father Junípero Serra. Unfortunately, an Indian uprising led to the original mission being destroyed by fire in 1775. By 1777, they were rebuilt and over the next few years Mission San Diego expanded to include an adobe church, granary, dormitories, barracks, a guard house, and two cemeteries. In the 1790s, a new irrigation system was completed. Sadly, the Mission was again destroyed, this time by an earthquake that struck November 22, 1800.
Following the earthquake, the Mission was reconstructed. A new church was completed in 1813, followed by another irrigation system in 1816, and new granaries in 1820. In 1834, with the secularization of the missions, Mission San Diego was unsuccessfully put up for sale. In 1846, it was finally given to Santiago Argüello by Governor Pío Pico, and after annexation into the United States it was used by the military until 1862. That year, Abraham Lincoln returned the Mission to the Catholic Church, by which time it was in ruins.
Restoration first began in the 1880s, under Father Anthony Ubach. After his death in 1907, work was paused until 1931, when the 1813 church was finally restored. In February 1941, Mission San Diego once again became a parish church, and in 1976 it was officially declared a Basilica. Today, mass is held daily and the Mission features a museum, gift shop, and self-guided walking tour.
