Mission Bell Tower from right at Mission San Diego De Alcala in San Diego County, CA

Mission San Diego de Alcala was founded in July of 1769 and was the first of the 21 missions founded along the coast of California. Mission San Diego de Alcala is often known as “Mother of the Missions” and has been declared a “Minor Basilica” by the Catholic Church. For most of its history this mission was one of the poorest due to poor land for growing crops and a frequent lack of sufficient water. In 1775 there was a revolt led by Native Americans against the mission succeeded in killing the mission priest and burning the mission down. Mission San Diego de Alcala was rebuilt in the same style as an army fort to repel future revolts and continued its missionary service until the secularization period when the mission was used to house artillery units. It was later abandoned then used for a Native American school. In 1931 the dilapidated mission was rebuilt by the church to resemble its 1813 appearance and it is today an active participant in San Diego’s parish. The bell shown here was not original to the mission, but rather part of a later “mission revival” fever that swept California in the early 1900s.