Mission San Gabriel Archangel was founded on September 8, 1771, by Franciscan friars on Rio Temblores, then moved to this second site in 1774 because of flooding, where the old mission of stone and red brick was built with the help of Gabrieleno Indians. Its exterior is noted for exceptional beauty, with huge buttresses and massive bells in the campanario, which was built to replace the bell tower destroyed by the 1812 earthquake, and outside stairs leading to the choir loft. In 1781, Los Pobladores from the San Gabriel Mission founded the little pueblo of Los Angeles. The El Camino Real Door was the original entrance to the mission, opening onto El Camino Real, the King's Highway, the artery connecting the twenty-one California missions.
