The San Francisco Bay Area

[hijodecordoba 74]

great picture! did i get it right? Branceforte was a settlement that brought problems to the mission? but today its one town? (i wish my english would be better)

[bbfan02 23]

Great church! Looking out for more.

-bbfan02-

[jim5917 1]

Smarty218: I adjusted the level for the Mission SC picture.  In particular, in changed the first number of the input from 0 to around 50.  I do that to all of them – some more than others.  Seems to give a good contrast.  With Mission San Carlos and Santa Cruz I used curves afterwards to brighten it back up.

Wir3d: The churches are from the STEX – Simgoober.  There are two packs with 4 churches each.  I used the lot editor on the surroundings.

Hijodecordoba: Thanks.

Mike the Mayor: Thanks . . .  I’ll be taking you there in 3 weeks.

Yoshikoroyimara:  Yes.  Grew up in the Almaden area.  Parents still live there.  And yes downtown is gonna be difficult with the diagonal streets.  They run close to 45 degrees in real life so that is what I used.  Actually of the 3 big cities (SF, San Jose, Oakland) I think SF’s downtown was the easiest – just needed to find room for everything.  Oakland has lots of streets going in all sorts of different directions. 

Smarty218: Thanks

Hijodercordoba:  Yes the settlement of Branciforte was a problem for the mission.  For the most part the priests tried to keep the missions away from the presidios and pueblos.  And it seems that Branciforte, more so than other towns, was made up of people with marginal values.  And yes, today it is all one city now – Santa Cruz.  For the most part towns that grew up around the missions ended up taking on the mission names.  There will be an update on Santa Cruz someday.

Bbfan02:  Thanks. There are 3 more for you – 2 after today.

To everyone:  2 more missions (wed, sun) then transit maps (following week) . . . then SF.  Workin’ on the “finishing” touches.  Heres a couple of teaser pictures.  Downtown Campbell and Van Ness Ave in SF.

[jim5917 1]

Mission Nuestra Senora de la Soledad

Number 13 of 21

 

In 1769 Gaspar de Portola and Juan Crespi visited a valley on their way to Monterey that they named Soledad.  Fr. Fermin Lausen returned to the area 22 years later and established Mission Nuestra Senora de la Soledad (Our Lady of Solitude) on October 9, 1791.  Mission Soledad was located east of Mission San Carlos, north of Mission San Antonio de Padua and allowed for convenient rest stop between the two.  A lack of Indians in the area delayed the building of a permanent adobe mission until 1797.

Wet winters along with hot summers made mission life tough.  An epidemic in 1802 took the lives of many natives and caused others to believe they were being punished for choosing the white man’s god.  With a small neophyte population life at Mission Soledad lived up to its name.  With the exception of Fr. Florencio Ibanez, who served for 15 years, Mission Soledad was a revolving door for priests; with nearly 30 serving over a 44 year period.  The fertile land, however, provided excess crops and livestock.  At the time of secularization in 1834 inventory counts totaled 5000 vines, 3246 cattle, 2400 sheep and 32 horses.  Following secularization the mission was returned to the Catholic Church in 1859.  By this time the condition of the mission was in ruins and lay abandoned.  In 1954 restoration of the mission began.  Dust from the original church was used for the adobe bricks of the new church.  Today the church stands next to the disintegrating adobe walls that once stood tall many years ago.

[hijodecordoba 74]

to name a land soledad doesn't sound good (sounds like wilderness) for build up a mission. i think your information show that.

great picture. i like the ruin next to that nice lookig church

[jacqulina 162]

wonderfull work beautifull pics my friend

[bbfan02 23]

Wow, great buildings! I like the effect too!

-bbfan02-

[spectrumtech 15]

I have been wanting to do something like this myself dude... AWESOME! I, too, am a native of San Jose. I live at Saratoga and 280. Maybe I could do just a scale model of San Jose. Anyway, this is so cool! Good luck...

[nottheboss 1]

wow great work

well done!

[tgcela 0]

lol you should have done the jail at soledad too

great job on the area so far - I lived in South City for a couple of years and now i live in milpitas

good luck with the rest of the project

[edmonton_stinks 5]

Wow, nice work! Looks very secluded.

[s_olah 87]

Now that is a selection of churches!!! Beautiful

[yoshikoroyimara 5]

Keep going...so cool to see my region in a CJ...pretty good, too...maybe I should stop off at your parents house to give praise to you...joking...but still...please continue...

[jim5917 1]

Mission San Jose

Number 14 of 21

 

The Spanish recognized a need to continue adding more missions in order to facilitate travel between the missions as well as fortify the area against Indian attacks.  On June 9, 1797 a group led by Fr. Lausen headed east from Mission Santa Clara to find a site for a new mission.  Two days later, on June 11, 1797 they arrived at a spot the natives called Oroysom in the Valley of San Jose and established Mission San Jose.  Due to the mission’s location east of the San Francisco Bay it was often at the center of native uprisings originating from tribes further east in the San Joaquin Valley.

Along with being located in a prime area militarily, Mission San Jose was located in an area that allowed it to flourish.  Fertile land led to a bounty of crops and livestock, which allowed the mission to become one of the largest in California.  The mission was far enough from El Pueblo de San Jose de Guadalupe that the neophytes of the mission were not harassed by the residents of the pueblo.  In fact, today the mission is located within the city limits of Fremont, CA – not San Jose.  Before secularization in 1834 the mission converted over 6,700 Indians and the neophyte population grew to over 1,800.  Only one other mission recorded more conversions than Mission San Jose.  After secularization the land was sold and divided into ranchos.  During the Gold Rush of the 1850s part of the mission grounds were used for lodging and a general store serving travelers on their way to the sierras. An earthquake partially destroyed the adobe structure in 1868 and it was demolished and rebuilt using a wooden frame the following year.  In 1982 major renovation began on the mission site resulting in construction of a replica of the original church.

[Smarty218 2]

I've driven past this! Nice work!

[gabry85 2]

Wow, I like this historical feature! Can't wait for more!

[hijodecordoba 74]

once again a great church with a fine gardens and nice history essay

[GreyStreak 0]

I love it! I'm from Fremont, actually and I go to school right next to it. It's all right except for the way it looks.... See http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/71/MissionSanJoseCA.LYH.jpg/250px-MissionSanJoseCA.LYH.jpg  for a good picture. This is a nice CJ!

[yoshikoroyimara 5]

Yeah...another Bay Area member! you go to Mission high school? so not far from Milpitas....my parents live there...but great update, jim! Keep it coming!

[jacqulina 162]

beautifull churches my friend excellent work and pics

[jim5917 1]

hijodecordoba:  Soledad (Spanish) = solitude, isolation.  And the ruins are really just big mounds of dirt.

Jacqulina:  Thank you.

Bbfan02: Thanks.

Spectrumtech:  Glad I could fill the void.  I actually did start a 2:3 scale of SF and SJ a long time ago.  Meant to make it 1:1 but screwed it up.  Lol.  Anyway, maybe in the future – I still have my work cut out for me with this CJ. 

Nottheboss:  Thanks.

Tgcela:  Seriously, I need to do the prison since my region doesn’t make it far enough north to get San Quentin.  Reading you response made me remember something I was going to include in the last update.  My region doesn’t actually make it to Soledad.  The Mission should be just on the other side of the boarder.  Probably will include the town anyway.

Edmonton_stinks:  Yes it does and is.  I have visited most of the missions recently.  The Soledad mission definitely seems lonely.  Just farms and a small town (Soledad) a few miles away next to Hwy 101.  Makes it easy to imagine what life was like 200 years ago.

S_olah:  Thanks.  Guess I have to dedicate this section to simgoober since he made the churches.

Yoshikoroyimara:  lol.  I was going to make a full-scale accurate version but I didn’t want the paparazzi to find me.  But seriously, thanks for the support.

Smarty218: Thanks!

Gabry85:  Glad you like the history.  Thanks.

Hijodecordoba:  Thanks.  It’s good to know that you’re really into the history.

GreyStreak:  All right, more locals in the house!  I’ve been to most of the missions.  I know they do not look structurally accurate.  If I could change one thing it would probably be the color and texturing to make them look more like adobe and less like brick.  Overall I’m pretty happy with them though. 

Yoshikoroyimara:  I will.

Jacqulina:  Thanks again.

To everyone:  The following update concludes the chapter on the Spanish Mission Chain. Hope you enjoyed it. 

[jim5917 1]

Mission San Juan Bautista

Number 15 of 21

 

On June 24, 1797 Fr. Fermin Lasuen dedicated a site on a bluff overlooking the San Benito Valley as the spot for Mission San Juan Bautista.  By the end of the year a church, grainary, barracks and monastery were built on the mission site.  The neophyte population reached 500 in just a few short years and a peak of 1100 by 1805.  In 1803 construction of a new, much larger, church began.  It was completed in 1812 and was the largest in the mission chain.  By this time the neophyte population, due to death and desertion, had dwindled to half of its population from a few years earlier.  The priests tried various tactics to bring the Indians back to the church;  Fr. Estivan Tapis created a male choir and Fr. Felipe Arroyo De la Cuesta used his knowledge of several different Indian languages to deliver the Christian message. 

Following secularization the church continued serving the community.  In fact, the church has maintained uninterrupted service from 1797 to today. Due to it’s location right next to the San Andres fault earthquakes have helped shape the history of Mission San Juan Bautista.  In 1803 an earthquake destroyed the original church and in 1906 another earthquake caused severe damage to many of the buildings including the walls and bell tower of the church. Mission San Juan Bautista was featured in the 1958 Alfred Hitchcock film Vertigo.  However, the clock tower appearing in the film was entirely visual effects.  Restoration efforts have since restored the church and bell tower to near original condition.  Across the old town square sits the Plaza Hall and Plaza Stable buildings along with the Plaza Hotel across the street; all of which were built in the mid 1800’s.  These buildings along with the church are home to various artifacts dating back to the time of Spanish rule through the gold rush days of the 1850s.  

[hijodecordoba 74]

the missions map is a great idea and the church is one of the nicest.

[jim5917 1]

Sorry about the lack of updates lately - been busy.  Did post some screenshots in other forums if you want to take a peek here or here.  Up next is Chapter 3:  Transit Overview.  Then next week I will start  SF.  It will probably take about a month or more to do the tour. 

[jim5917 1]

CHAPTER 3: TRANSIT / REGIONAL MAPS

Actually an old screenshot - I will update it someday.  Not going to include the San Mateo Br. (Highway 92) in my journal - it will forever be a CALTrans work in progress.

Yea!!! BART finally makes it to San Jose!!!  (Actual line does not go south of Fremont or Millbrae -  and it extends past Walnut Creek in the north)  . . . and I extended this map just a little to the north to include the Richmond station.  I mentioned Richmond in Chapter 1 so I decided I should include it on a map.

[jjune4991 1]

very nice region pic (even if it is very old). i like those other maps too! the transit is what acutally? metro? interstate? bus routes? throw me a bone here.

[hijodecordoba 74]

wow, thats a fantastic region shot, that definetly shows why you've been so busy . the transitsystem is very near to the reality, although its a pitty that the san mateo bridge could not be built.

great update - makes me wanna go back in time to 2006 and travel around the bay area once more.

[Smarty218 2]

Fantastic! Amazing region and photoshopping!

[jim5917 1]

Just to clarify BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) is an electric commuter train similar to the Metro in DC - except it is mostly above ground.  It goes underground in Downtown Oakland (3 stations?), Downtown Berkeley and most of SF.  West Oakland is above ground but then the train goes back under and crosses over to SF underwater in the Trans-Bay Tube.  If it ever made it to San Jose it would go under Market Street downtown (Civic Center and Market St Stations).  The extension from Fremont has been proposed, voted on and approved.  High costs and lack of money constantly delay the project.   From San Jose up the peninsula to SFO is strictly hypothetical.  Zero plans in the works for that.  Actually I just made it follow the CalTrain line - an inferior commuter train.  Someone made a skin for BART that is available on the ST-Exchange.  I see now the are two - i think I used andreas_roth's.   A screenshot is included at the top of the update.

And props to anyone who knows which street that is supposed to be crossing over Hwy 17 in the top picture.

[edmonton_stinks 5]

So if the actual line doesn't actually go past Millbrae, then did you just make up the rest of the stations? The plans are good.