Mission San Miguel Arcángel is a Christian religious center in California that was established by Spanish Roman Catholic priests. The Franciscan missionary Fermín Lasuén founded it on July 25, 1797, near what is now Paso Robles, California. The mission is named for Saint Michael, an angel mentioned in Christian and Jewish scriptures. Between 1769 and 1823, Spanish priests started 21 missions as centers for teaching the Indians of California about Christianity.
Salinan Indians helped build Mission San Miguel Arcángel and became some of its first members. In 1806, a fire destroyed the small, straw-roofed church and some other mission buildings. The community members began to make and store adobe (sun-dried mud bricks) and clay roof tiles for rebuilding. The members became known for the high quality of their roof tiles, which the mission sold. From 1816 to 1818, the mission built a new church. During the next few years, Estéban Munras, a Spanish artist, and a group of local Indian artists decorated the inside of the church with imaginative paintings and designs that are still there today.
Beginning in the 1830’s, the Mexican government seized and sold the California missions and their lands. In 1859, the United States government returned Mission San Miguel Arcángel to the Roman Catholic Church. A priest began to serve there in 1878. In 1928, the mission was returned to the care of the Franciscans, who made it a parish church and a Franciscan teaching center.
On Dec. 22, 2003, an earthquake badly damaged the mission, and it had to close to the public. The courtyard and some of the old living areas have reopened, but repairs continue on other historic buildings.
