From my first childhood visit to Mission San Juan Capistrano in the early ’60s, I was fascinated by these old relics in a state where old was something built in the ‘40s. In 2017, fulfilling a long desire, I undertook a road trip to see all of the missions in sequence from San Diego, to Sonoma. On this trip, I came to appreciate the missions for their beauty, and gained a greater understanding of their legacy and impact on California culture.

A total of 21 missions were founded by Spanish Franciscan monks over roughly 50 years starting in 1769. By the early 20th century, most had largely fallen into ruin when an effort to revive and restore them began. Recently, we have reexamined the notion of a romanticized mission culture, and have come to understand its brutality and devastating impact on Native Americans.

From that trip, I created a book containing photographs of all 21 missions as seen today, along with some historical context covering the period between their founding and their current state. This gallery contains sample images from that much larger project.