La Purisima Mission (with the original Spanish name being La Misión de La Purísima Concepción de la Santísima Virgen María) was founded on the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin on December 8, 1787. The present and second site is located east of the town of Lompoc, California between Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. Lompoc was so small that the Catholic Church made an exception to the rule which stated that no mission ...
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La Purisima Mission (with the original Spanish name being La Misión de La Purísima Concepción de la Santísima Virgen María) was founded on the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin on December 8, 1787. The present and second site is located east of the town of Lompoc, California between Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. Lompoc was so small that the Catholic Church made an exception to the rule which stated that no mission was to be established within seven miles of any city (the original site of La Purisima was only one mile from the small town). It was moved four miles east of the town to its present location after the Santa Barbara Earthquake severely damaged the mission buildings on December 21, 1812. It is currently the only example in California of a complete Spanish Catholic mission complex.
By 1803, the mission's Indian population had increased to 1,436 and boasted 3,230 cattle, 5,400 sheep, 306 horses, and 37 mules. In the same year, there was a harvest...
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