California missions spotlight: Nothing remains of the original Mission San José, all lost to a quake
San José, Fremont
14th mission
1797
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This was a big mission, with nearly 1,900 residents at its peak in 1831 and neophytes organized into an orchestra and choir. Nothing remains of the original church, mostly because of an 1868 earthquake. A 1985 reconstruction produced a new mission church, designed to look as the site did in the 1830s. But the mission’s convento building, which houses the museum, is a survivor of that 1868 quake.
Nearby: Mission San José has always been about 13 miles north of the pueblo/city of San Jose. Fortunately, these days we can quickly cover those miles. You can see the mission in the morning and spend the afternoon at the Tech Museum of Innovation (www.thetech.org) in San Jose. Or catch a show in San Jose’s California Theater (a recently restored wonder of 1927 Gothic/Moorish/Renaissance architecture). Or stay in Fremont and try the Niles Canyon Railway (www.ncry.org), which runs between the communities of Sunol and Niles.
Info: 43300 Mission Blvd., Fremont; (510) 657-1797, www.missionsanjose.org. Driving distance from Los Angeles City Hall: 362 miles northwest.
From the archives:
In 1958, The Times wrote about how Father Narciso Durán of Mission San José trained musicians to play and sing in the mission’s early years.
In 2000, The Times ran an Associated Press story about nuns reviving the olive groves of the Mission San José.
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