The Lost Mission: Mission San Rafael Arcangel

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Although almost nothing from Mission San Rafael Arcangel remains, its story involves holding back the Russians in a 19th century cold war, making the region’s first wine, and important people like Chief Marin and Kit Carson. We can use historic maps to see where the mission used to be and to show how much has changed in 200 years at San Rafael, California.

Stops:
1) Mission San Rafael Arcangel, 1104 Fifth Ave, San Rafael, CA 94901
2) 4th Street San Rafael, location of mission's vineyard and garden
3) Boyd Memorial Park, https://www.cityofsanrafael.org/locat..., likely source of mission's water
4) Albert Park, 155 Andersen Dr, San Rafael, CA 94901, 'tierra baldia' and San Rafael Creek
5) Robert Dollar Hiking Trail, 32 Tampa Dr, San Rafael, CA 94901, the top of the trail provides a great view of San Rafael - imagine what it would have looked like 200 years ago!

Sources:

Bacich, Damian. "Mission San Rafael Arcángel: The Hospital That Became a Mission" (2018) https://www.californiafrontier.net/mi...

DeBaker, Cassidy R. "The Rediscovery of Mission San Rafael Arcangel: An Archaeological Snapshot of the 20th California Mission." Master's Thesis, Cultural Resources Management Program, Sonoma State University, 2012.

Historic American Landscapes Survey, Seth Boyd, John Boyd, Adam Murray, Marin History Museum, Seth Cook, and Dan Cook. Boyd Memorial Park, B Street, San Rafael, Marin County, CA. Marin County California San Rafael, 2000. https://www.loc.gov/item/ca3691/.

Jackson, Robert H. "Gentile Recruitment and Population Movements in the San Francisco Bay Area Missions." Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 6, no. 2 (1984): 225-239.

Schneider, Tsim D. "Envisioning colonial landscapes using mission registers, radiocarbon, and stable isotopes: an experimental approach from San Francisco Bay." American Antiquity (2015): 511-529.

Images from Wikimedia Commons. Music: Quiet by Audionautix Artist: http://audionautix.com/