San Pedro y San Pablo Asistencia

The San Pedro y San Pablo Asistencia is a former religious outpost established by Spanish colonists on the west coast of North America in the present-day State of California. Founded in 1786 in the San Pedro Valley at the Ohlone village of Pruristac, the settlement served as an asistencia ("sub-mission") to nearby Mission San Francisco de Asís. Named for the Roman Catholic saints Peter and Paul (the Apostle), the site is located within the bounds of the Rancho San Pedro in what today is the town of Pacifica. Designated as a historic landmark at both the state and national levels (specifically as regards the Sánchez Adobe, a structure that was constructed between 1842 and 1846 on the abandoned outpost site using materials salvaged from the Mission buildings), virtually nothing of the original installation remains today.

History

Within the first year a chapel, granary, tack room, and three other rooms had been constructed, all using native labor. In 1788 two more rooms were added. In 1789 a second granary was built, quarters for the mayordomo, and quarters for the missionaries were built, as was a covered passageway which temporarily served as a kitchen. Crops of wheat and beans were planted in quantities to provide for the needs of the parent mission. At its peak the asistencia consisted of a three-wing main structure surrounding a central plaza. Corn, peas, barley, asparagus, and rosemary would, in time also be cultivated, along with grape vineyards and groves of peach and quince trees. Due to a significant decline in the native population, the facility was used mainly as an outpost to graze cattle after 1790.

After secularization of the missions in 1834 the Mexican Governor of California granted the lands of the Rancho (8,928 acres in all) to Don Francisco Sánchez in 1839. Included were the all of the buildings at the compound. Sáanchez retained ownership of the property after California was ceded to the United States in 1848. In 1894, roof tiles were salvaged from the property and installed on the Southern Pacific Railroad depot located in Burlingame, California (the first permanent structure constructed in the Mission Revival Style).