EXPLORE SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO
DOWNTOWN Discovery
San Juan Capistrano is synonymous with historic charm. Around each corner and down every street, the city’s past lies within plain view. Its architectural collection crosses some 240 years. From the 18th century, Spanish Colonial-style Mission San Juan Capistrano to prolifi c-library designer Michael Graves’ post- modern mashup of Spanish and classical styles, San Juan’s downtown architecture reveals both the city’s dynamic and multi-cultural history. One of the only places in the country where a saint’s footsteps—those of Saint Junipero Serra—can be followed, a stroll down San Juan’s streets is a literal walk through the past.
NUMBERS CORRESPOND WITH MAP 1 Blas Aguilar Adobe >>
Home to relics of San Juan Capistrano’s past, the Blas Aguilar Adobe is El Camino Real’s last standing, sun-dried brick structure. Believed to have fi rst housed Isidro Aguilar—a stonemason from Culiácan, Mexico who supervised construction of the Great Stone Church for two years—only one of the adobe’s original wings stands today, the north, called Casa Esperanza or “House of Hope.” In 1845, the adobe was bought by Don Blas Aguilar, the last alcalde—or mayor— under Mexican rule. Today, a museum at the National Register of Historic Places landmark exhibits historic photos, books and native Acjacheman artifacts.
<< 2 Capistrano Depot
San Juan’s narrative runs its tracks—a rail bearing witness to city progress, a president, honeymooners and Orange County’s last railroad robbery. T e city’s locomotive lore began in 1887 when San Diego and Los Ange- les were linked by rail. A Mission Revival-style station was built seven years later. Over the years, Capistrano Depot has welcomed countless visi-
tors and been home to some of San Juan’s fi nest eateries and colorful tales like when Modesta Avila defi ed California’s most powerful corporation in 1889 by stringing laundry, or as trial transcripts tell it a railroad tie, across the tracks. Months later she would become the fi rst county felon and state prisoner.
4 Eagan House: T e Irish-born “King of Cap-
istrano,” Judge Richard Egan, built the red-brick, Victorian/Greek Revival home in 1883 and again in 1898 aſt er a large fi re tore through the structure. Today, it houses the café, Ellie’s Table.
5 San Juan Capistrano Library: Michael Graves,
the famed designer behind San Juan’s “temple of learning,” called this modern play on traditional Spanish architecture among his favorite designs.
<< 3 Serra Chapel
T e heart of Mission San Juan Cap- istrano, Serra Chapel, is California’s last remaining sanctuary where its namesake—the recently-canonized, Franciscan priest—Saint Junipero Serra celebrated mass. Built in the 1780s, this spiritual center contin- ues to celebrate the Eucharist daily. Mission conservation is ongoing to protect the chapel’s 17th-century
paintings, 1920s pews and 400-year-old Spanish golden altar, to conserve the chapel’s cultural, historical and religious signifi cance. Welcoming guests of all faiths for more than 200 years, Serra Chapel remains a vital gathering place in San Juan Capistrano.
The cultural narration continues … 6 Yorba Adobes: Built in the early-to-mid 1800s,
the adobes were a home, court and jail. Today, it’s home to the eatery El Adobe de Capistrano—a per- sonal favorite of the late President Richard Nixon.
7 Mission Basilica: T e basilica, a designated
National Shrine and recommended place of pilgrimage, was modeled aſt er the Mission’s Great Stone Church that was destroyed in an 1812 earthquake. It was completed in 1986.
8 Garcia Adobe: Stagecoach travelers found San
Juan’s fi rst hotel a welcome stop along the diffi cult, dusty trail. T e two-story adobe, built during the city’s adobe revival around 1840, sits vacant today.
Read about the “Jewel of California Missions,” Mission San Juan Capistrano and California’s longest continually-inhabited neighborhood, the Los Rios Historic District, on pages 20 and 14, respectively.
VISITSJC.COM SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS DIRECTORY & VISITOR GUIDE 19
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