History:
Mission Vieja de la Purisima was founded in 1787 in the lower
Santa Ynez River Valley, at the base of the southern foothills. At
the time of its destruction by the 1812 earthquake, the mission
settlement consisted of a large complex of adobe buildings and
traditional Chumash houses that housed about 1,000 Native American
converts, two Franciscan missionaries, and about 15 soldiers and
their families. Dominating the community was the approximately 100
meter-square quadrangle which contained the church, the padres'
apartments, a sleeping room for unmarried woman, and various shops
and storerooms. Outside the quadrangle were dwellings for the
soldiers and traditionally-constructed houses for married Indians
as well as facilities such as kilns, threshing floors, tanning
vats, corrals, water-related structures, and gardens.
The only portion of the mission that is preserved above ground
today are the stone entryway to the church, a portion of the south
wall of the church, and remains of two water basins. Construction
activities in the area of the quadrangle, however, have revealed
intact mission foundations and floors from ground level to two to
five feet under the present surface. The thick layer of overlying
earth came from the collapse of the massive adobe walls. Residents
living in this area have reported tile floors underlying their
properties.
You can drive right to this one but be sure to get out and explore
the various ruins west and northeast of the Marker. All have access
paths off the cul-de-sac. PLEASE
STAY OFF RAILROAD TRACKS. THIS IS AN ACTIVE SPUR TRACK (it supports
1 maybe 2 Slow Trains a day leaving the Celite
Quarry.) The coordinate is for the Marker on the
rock. FOR CREDIT PLEASE EMAIL ME WITH THE DEDICATION DATE AT THE
BOTTOM.
The current site for La Purisima Mission is a California State Park
located 3 miles northeast of this original Mission site in
Lompoc.
Earthquake Information for 1812 which reflects two
significant events, both of which damaged or destroyed California
Missions:
December 8, 1812 / mid-morning, Wrightwood Earthquake
LOCATION uncertain; probably on the San Andreas fault near
Wrightwood
MAGNITUDE MW 7.5 (estimated)
Often referred to as the San Juan Capistrano earthquake, due to the
death toll from the quake at that famous mission, the exact
location and size of this earthquake are unknown, but based upon
evidence from sediments along and tree-rings of pines growing near
the San Andreas fault, this quake has been identified as one along
the Mojave segment of the San Andreas, possibly resulting in as
much as 170 km (106 miles) of surface rupture -- roughly, that
length of the fault between Tejon Pass and Cajon Pass -- with a
theorized epicenter near Wrightwood.
Using only the sparse damage reports, an epicenter in the vicinity
of Mission San Juan Capistrano, and a magnitude of about 6, seemed
reasonable estimates.
As mentioned above, this quake is remembered for its death-toll: 40
people, all Native Americans, attending mass at San Juan Capistrano
were killed when the mortar in the church walls failed and the
church collapsed. That even a magnitude 7.5 on the San Andreas
fault could have such dire consequences on a structure as far away
from the fault as the mission church seems unusual, but it was
reported that the construction of the church was of dubious
quality.
Some damage associated with this earthquake may have also been
reported at Mission San Gabriel, and even in San Diego, but records
from this time are poor, and accounts uncertain, so this damage may
actually have been caused by the December 21 earthquake, mentioned
below.
December 21, 1812 Earthquake
Another damaging earthquake occurred in southern California in the
month of December, 1812, potentially triggered by the Wrightwood
quake two weeks earlier that month. The epicenter of this one, too,
is of uncertain location. Because of the widespread damage it
caused, it was probably as large as magnitude 7. It is probable
that the epicenter was located offshore, possibly in the Santa
Barbara channel, but an inland epicenter, somewhere in present-day
Santa Barbara County, or even Ventura County, cannot be ruled
out.
This earthquake destroyed the church at Mission Santa Barbara, and
caused near-total destruction at Mission Purisma Concepcion, near
present-day Lompoc, causing that site to be abandoned, and a new
Mission Purisma built several miles north. At Mission Santa Inez,
damage was considerable, but not as severe as that at Santa Barbara
or Mission Purisma.
Despite the extent of destruction this quake caused, no deaths were
reported in connection with the December 21 earthquake.