Pilgrimage 2013: Mission San Jose in Fremont, CA May 18, 2013

The next day we crossed the bay to Fremont, California to the San Jose Mission. The city of San Jose has the Mission St. Claire, just to keep me confused. LOL
We toured the church, the museum, the mission and the cemetery, went to eat in Fremont and returned for an organ and piano recital in the evening. Our lucky day.
http://www.missionsanjose.org/
Mission San Jose was founded on June 11, 1797 by Father Fermin Francisco de Lasuen on a site which was part of a natural highway by way of the Livermore Valley to the San Joaquin Valley. It is the fourteenth of the 21 Spanish Missions in Alta California. They were founded to secure Spain's claim to this land and to teach the native people Christianity and the Spanish way of life.
St. Joseph's Church:

The one mission without
a school bus in front!!!!

St. Joseph, the carpenter
made out of wood.

My first redwood sighting.

Front of St. Joseph's

Beautiful altar.

Baptismal Font.

Looking out.

Looking to the future.

The Museum:

Entry to the Mission

Remnants of the Lavenderia.

Restoration Plans

Time line for building the mission.

We wondered why the large kettle

It's a tallow pot to make candles!

This harmonium may have been used
in the original adobe church
before the 1868 Earthquake.

Tools found in excavations.

The Priest's cell

A great display of early life.

A drawing of Indian artifacts.
I'm fascinated by the fox sheath
for their arrows.

More found items.

Lovely drawing of how it was.

In the courtyard and the cemetery:

The wall shows the adobe bricks.

The fountain.

Don't remember other missions
having these supports.

Tombstones.

And more.

Only 26 years old.

The cross.

St. Francis

The Mission Church is still used for weddings and special events. The old organ in the balcony was the highlight of the recital that night. I didn't remember seeing the grand piano when we visited in the afternoon, but Marion assured me it was there. <smile> The organist/pianist was outstanding. He explained how hard it was to play the old organ and how different some of the sounds are. But he made it sing for us and we thoroughly enjoyed every minute.
Fremont Symphony Guild presents Tim Zerlang on piano and organ, May 18, 2013.