San Juan Capistrano has been the home to many people over 230 years of history. Its history consists of stories of its past inhabitants and present visitors. It is a place of historical, cultural, and religious significance, as well as a place of beauty and inspiration.
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, California and other western territories were ceded to the United States. With the Gold Rush beginning and millions of Americans moving to California, Mission San Juan Capistrano would see another great change.
Only a few years after acquiring the territory of California, the United States declared it a state in 1850. Many California dioceses and parishioners petitioned the government to have mission buildings and lands returned to the church. People were saddened at the state of the missions. Some mission buildings had been turned into stores, bars, inns, or even stables. Most were falling apart and not maintained.
Restoration & Preservation
President Abraham Lincoln responded to the petitioners by giving back the missions to the Catholic Church. By the 1870s and early 1900s, artists, photographers, and visionaries took interest in the abandoned missions. Many wealthy individuals formed groups to campaign for restoration. The Landmarks Club, led by Charles Lummis and resident padre Father John O'Sullivan, was Mission San Juan Capistrano's greatest proponent of preservation. Throughout the 1910s to 1940s, a great amount of preservation work ensued.
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