San Gabriel Mission was founded by Fr. Pedro Benito Cambon and Fr. Angel Fernandez de la Somera on Sept. 8, 1771 in nearby Montebello by the Rio Hondo River, and moved to this location in 1775. The mission's cross above the entrance door was first installed about 1959, taken down for earthquake retrofit in the early 1990s, and restored and rededicated on March 7, 2009 at 11 a.m. The El Camino Real bell in front of the church was cast and then placed here on Aug. 15, 1906, by Los Angeles Section, El Camino Real Association.
