Mission San Francisco de Asís (Mission Dolores)

Founded on June 29, 1776, by Lieutenant José Joaquín Moraga and Father Francisco Palóu, Mission San Francisco de Asís is the oldest surviving structure in San Francisco and the sixth of the twenty-one Spanish missions established in California. The mission was named for Saint Francis of Assisi, but it quickly became known as Mission Dolores due to its proximity to the Arroyo de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores, or the Creek of Our Lady of Sorrows. The current adobe chapel was completed in 1791 and has remarkably survived the various earthquakes and fires that have reshaped the city over the centuries. The interior of the chapel features a stunning ceiling with traditional Ohlone-inspired chevron patterns, painted with vegetable dyes by the indigenous people who built the mission. These designs serve as a rare physical connection to the Ohlone culture that existed long before the Spanish arrival. The mission's thick adobe walls, measuring four feet thick, are largely responsible for its survival during the devastating 1906 earthquake, which destroyed the more modern brick basilica that stood next to it at the time. Today, the site includes the original 1791 chapel, a stunning 20th-century basilica, a small museum, and a historic cemetery. This cemetery is the final resting place for many notable figures in early California history, including the first Mexican Governor of Alta California and the first mayor of San Francisco, as well as thousands of Native Americans whose labor was central to the mission's operation. The site remains an active parish and a powerful monument to the complex, multi-layered history of San Francisco.