Mission San Fernando Rey de España

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

Related Topics:
Misión San Fernando Rey de España de Velicatá - Baja California

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Mission San Fernando Rey de España, or San Fernando Rey, was founded on September 8, 1797 by Father Fermín Francisco de Lasuén, the seventeenth in the California mission chain. It was named for Saint Ferdinand, King of Spain. The installation is located on the former Encino Rancho in the Mission Hills community of northern Los Angeles, California, in what was the Second Military District.

Related Topics:
September 8 - 1797 - Fermín Francisco de Lasuén - California - Saint Ferdinand, King of Spain - Mission Hills - Los Angeles, California - ''Second Military District''

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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.

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1845 - Pío Pico - 1846 - 1800s - Butterfield Stage Lines - Porter Land and Water Company - 1896 - Quadrangle - Hog - Farm

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A hundred-pound bell was unearthed in an orange grove near the Mission in 1920. It carried the following inscription (tranlsated 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.

Related Topics:
Pound - 1920 - Russian - 1796 - Alexsandr Baranov - Russian Orthodox - Kodiak, Alaska

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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. Mission San Fernando Rey de España is a beautifully restored mission. It continues to be very well cared for and is still used as a parish church.

Related Topics:
1923 - Oblate - 1900s - Hearst - 1940s - 1971 - Earthquake - 1974 - Parish - Church

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