Mission San Juan Bautista, founded on June 24, 1797, was the fifteenth Spanish mission in California and became the center of the town that bears its name. It grew rapidly, drawing in Ohlone people and later Yokuts, and by 1803 supported a large Native American population and extensive ranching and farming. More than 4,000 Native American converts and Europeans were buried in its cemetery. Known as the “Mission of Music,” it gained renown through Father Pedro Estévan Tápis’s Native American boys’ choir. Damaged but never destroyed by earthquakes, the mission church still functions today, while the surrounding historic plaza preserves important early buildings.

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