City of San Juan Bautista California

Learn About...
• Historical Society • History Related Websites • Historic San Juan Bautista Plan • History of the San Juan Area: • The Mutsun • The Mission • San Juan de Castro • The Gavilan Peak Affair • Castro House Today • El Camino Real • Plaza Stable • Plaza Hall • Tiburcio Vasquez • The Sanchez File

Historical Society The San Juan Bautista Historical Society Luck Museum is open Saturdays 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. & by appointment. Phone: (831) 623-2001.
View photos of the city's original land patent: full document or important details.

History Related Websites Old Mission San Juan Bautista Founded in 1797 by Father Fermin de Lausen, successor to Junipero Serra, mission San Juan Bautista is the 15th of the 21 California Missions. Host to thousands of tourists each year Old Mission San Juan is an active Catholic Parish. San Juan Bautista State Historic Park The San Juan Bautista State Historical Park sponsors an Early Days Celebration each year which is always held in June on Father’s Day weekend. The park also celebrates the First Saturday of each month as a Living History Celebration with activities conducted by docents including spinning, candle making, dancing, loom weaving and much more. Sponsored by the Plaza History Association, (831) 623-2454. Juan Bautista De Anza National Trail Walking/biking/horseback riding trail National Register of Historic Places - NRIS Database The National Register Information System (NRIS) is a database of places listed in or determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. To see the NRIS list of structures located in San Juan Bautista, click on the link above, enter CA (in the State field) and San Juan Bautista (in the City field), then click the Execute button. The National Park Service Cultural Resources Partnership Notes The National Park Service is pleased to announce the web publication of "Law and the Historic Preservation Commission: What Every Member Needs to Know." Please click on the link above then click on the title at the "New" flag. This publication provides a "plain English" introduction to the basic legal concepts and issues that preservation commissioners may encounter. There are four other issues in this series available both on-line and in hard copy.

History of the San Juan Area The Mutsun Prior to the Spanish occupation of California, the Sun Juan Valley was the home of the Mutsun Indians. One of their village sites was on the eastern edge of San Juan Bautista. The Mutsun built the beehive-shaped huts of willow and coarse grass. The men were hunters, and made spear points and arrowheads from chert and obsidian; the women gathered acorns, berries, and seeds that they ground in stone mortars. They also made the baskets that served the Mutsun in a variety of ways for storing food, trapping fish, carrying loads, leaching acorns, even boiling, by dropping hot rocks into water in tightly woven baskets. In the mild climate, the women usually wore only a pair of aprons. The men often went naked, but both sexes wore cloaks of rabbit skin in winter. The Mutsun enjoyed ball games, field hockey, dice games, gambling, singing, and dancing. They made music with bird's bone whistles, flutes and rattles. The last full-blooded Mutsun Indian died in January 1930. She is buried in the Indian Cemetery beside the old Mission church.
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