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Old Mission San Jose & Museum
Rating Details »
Categories: Museums, Landmarks & Historical Buildings
43300 Mission Blvd(at Washington Blvd)
Fremont, CA 94539
(510) 657-1797
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
11 reviews for Old Mission San Jose & Museum
Call me weird but I'm strangely attracted to very old graveyards. My sister was more excited about the church. I wanted to see the tombstones.
I must admit that once you're in the church its a sense of serenity that engulfs you. We crashed a wedding being held here only because we wanted to see the inside of the church and had about 30 minutes to tour the grounds. As you step in you're transported to another time, another place. Its like no other church I've seen before...except maybe the small town churches in mexico.
Right outside of the church is a courtyard with a fountain and a few tombstones near the back. While you're back there pick some grapes off the back fence. The graveyard is super creepy. Tombstones dating back to the 1800's slightly askew and unearthed. On the other side of the gift shop you can tour the artifacts and explore the history.
One of the highlights of our trip.
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Mission San Jose is the smallest mission I have visited so far, without the big gardens and courtyards of the others. Evidently there was no early effort to hold on to the land and because of a big earthquake in 1868 the buildings were destroyed and not rebuilt until 1985(!). That means the place laid in ruins for over 100 years and evidently nobody preserved or prepared it for the future.
Fremont strikes me as a city that is probably a lot more interested in growth than in preservation. There are historical structures in this part of town, many in use, but there is nothing like the historical park of preserved old west buildings that surround the San Juan Bautista mission.
San Jose's grounds are fairly nondescript and the graveyard is barely tended. The rebuilt chapel is very nice and seems to closely resemble the original (the original adobe version that is, the very first one was more like a big wooden shed).
The only outbuilding now serves as a church store and a self-guided tour. There aren't a million artifacts, but they are interesting.
Still, I love Missions and the fact that the faithful still use them regularly for services and weddings. Mission San Jose survived,evidently against all odds. It is up and functioning and that is the result of a lot of work and money raising for sure.
It is always interesting to visualize how the mission must have looked when it was built, how it fit into the land. It is kind of hard to see now because of all the adjacent building and mature landscape trees, but this mission was built up high, against the hills. There was a fine view all the way to the water. And, the indigenous people could clearly see these astounding buildings from their hunting and gathering areas below. It must have been pretty impressive and compelling.
So, all missions have their history and all of them are worth visiting. Mission San Jose survived, is still in use and so there is a life here worth investigating.
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#3 on my Oct 2009 Mission trail, visited on the 13th in a driving rainstorm. A total reconstruction, and very impressive at that; used as a working Catholic parish. Like the fake half-ruined flying buttresses. The nave's walls are a delight. The museum displays are the most extensive I've seen, and the ladies in the gift shop were a pleasure to chat with.
http://www.flickr.com/...
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Family from out of state. What better place to take them than one of our fine 21 California missions.
I agree with Sunny D. that the cemetry are among the most interesting areas. Each head stone tells a mini history of a live and sometimes family.
Even though in Fremont, this is known as Mission San Jose.
Try not to go doing the regular school week as there are often school groups. California madatory 4th grade mission history.
A mission built in what eventually would become a city named after a Mexican War general and first Republican party presidential candidate makes my historical head spin.
San Jose is a nice mission, pleasant, although only partially restored, and the rustic look they're going for with the half finished wall is nice, but more depressing than inspiring. The surburban fantasy that is Fremont is a funny contrast, and there's a high school not far away. The first time I visited the mission, I was so excited about it, I wasn't watching both ways on the street, and nearly got knocked down by an angry truck driver.
Inside, the mission is beautiful and charming, and attempts to paint a comprehensive mission history, with a pretty decently set up museum display. Great space, calming cemetery, beautiful spot.
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This church is absolutely breathtaking. I remember being in awe the first time I saw it. Well, maybe it's because I was 6 years old. There's a sense of peacefulness the moment you walk in. You just know that you have to be quiet and give time to yourself to take it all in. The architecture, design, art work, statues, and altar has so much history and is still very well kept. I witnessed several weddings and baptisms here. All turned out great. Check out the museum if you want to learn more.
The only thing that scares me is the cemetery. Yep, there's a cemetery there and it is old. There are cracks everywhere. Other than that, this will be worth your visit and time.
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God, how I love this place.
White wall, red shingles, with aged wood frames.
This aged mission is the witness of time. Segments of broken walls add to the rustic atmosphere. I love to hang out here around the evening to watch the sun light glide along the white wall and cast it's lonesome shadow over the doorways as if witnessing the passage of time.
Inside of the chapel is a sanctuary that shields one from the mundane. Religious or not, one could be at peace with the self while taking a meditating moment here.
Don't forget to check out some of the photos I posted. :p
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I'm not at all religious but I feel a tremendous sense of peace when I walk through the old mission. It ackowledges the sacrifies that the Native Americans to some degree (not the full degree of course but still) which is important. Badly damaged in the 1868 earthquake, it was restored about 10 years ago and is simply beautiful. An annoyance (and hence the score) is that you have to walk through the gift shop to get to the rest of the church and grounds. Don't tell me the Catholic church is broke! They have the $$$ that they don't need to commercialize their sacred spaces for pilgrims and the curious.
What's worth checking out besides the museum is to walk through the church itself (note the mirrored candles that are spectacular at midnight mass) and enter the boneyard. You see the Portuguese and Irish roots of this region of the Bay Area clearly in the tombstones and I find myself transported off to another place whenever I'm here.
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I came out to N. Cal to visit a friend of mine, who was nice enough to indulge my taste for local history by taking me to Mission San Jose. It was a delightful little experience; this Northeasterner loved it all--from the setting of the Town That Would Be Fremont, the cemetery adjoining the Mission w/the Spanish-language headstones, the chapel that contains tombs under the floor, and the long and storied past of the place in general. The neighborhood that the Mission is in is quite adorable and walkable, too; I think if I ever had to leave the East Coast, this particular part of the East Bay would be my preferred destination! Highly recommended!
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This is by far my favorite Mission in the Bay Area. Unlike other Missions that are on school grounds (Santa Clara), still in use (Dolores) or sponsored as a tourist attraction (Carmel), this poor little Mission is all on it's own. I also enjoy it because it has a lot of information on the history of the area where I live (Contra Costa/Alameda Counties) and has an adorable cemetery to top it off.
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Long long ago, we studied the California missions. We actually had to make a replica of it from scratch. Not like today where you just buy the replica and piece it together. My group had mission San Jose. I remember visiting the place, and I've probably haven't been back since. I had forgotton how beautiful this mission was, it's small but has great historical character. It reminds me much of Mission Carmel, just small and beautiful.
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