On May 13, 2020 Santa Clara’s Mission Church will celebrate the 92nd anniversary of its dedication, which happened on May 13, 1928.

1928—I hope you caught that—is not during the famous mission era of California history. What’s going on with this timeline?

Here at Santa Clara we all know and love the Mission Church, but five Franciscan churches preceded the current edifice. The mission is central to the school’s identity, yet it was built by Jesuits to replace the fifth and final Franciscan church, which was destroyed by fire in 1926. The churches that preceded it⁠—all built by the skills and labor of Spanish missionaries of the Franciscan order and Native Americans⁠—were destroyed by floods and earthquakes.

In case you are a California Mission history buff or just miss being on campus and seeing the Mission Church⁠—currently lit up in blue to support frontline essential workers⁠—I have prepared an interactive map and timeline of the historical sites of Mission Santa Clara. The exhibit starts with the first short-lived edifice erected in 1777 and ends with the Mission Church of 2020. I hope it can hold you over until we can return to campus and behold the Mission Church at the heart of campus ourselves.

Header image: Mission Santa Clara Entrance, from the SCU Digital Collections.