Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa is a Christian religious center that was established by Spanish Roman Catholic priests in California. Between 1769 and 1823, Spanish priests started 21 missions as centers for teaching the Indians of California about Christianity. The Franciscan missionary Saint Junípero Serra founded the mission on Sept. 1, 1772, near what is now San Luis Obispo, California. Local Chumash Indians helped build the mission and became its first members. The mission was named after Saint Louis, a bishop of Toulouse, France, in the late 1200’s. After a series of fires, the early missionaries replaced the thatched grass roof with arched clay tiles. These red, fire-resistant tiles became a distinctive mark of mission architecture throughout California.
In 1833 and 1834, the Mexican government seized and redistributed properties that belonged to all the missions. The mission buildings at San Luis Obispo were sold and eventually served as the first courthouse and jail in San Luis Obispo County. The county returned the buildings to the church in 1859, and once again the mission prospered and expanded. The original parish school opened in 1876. The entire mission was restored to its original Spanish style in 1933.
Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa is still an active Catholic parish and a center of town life. The original priests’ residence—the convento—is now a museum of the mission’s history.
