The Mission San Gabriel in California provides another example of a wonderful mission in California that continues to inspire enthusiasts of the Spanish revival style of architecture. People theorize that the Paleo-Indians entered America via Asia on the land bridge called Beringia. This probably took place 15,000 to 35,000 years ago. Traces of these early Indians are found on Santa Rosa Island, things like the Arlington Springs Man, shows habitation in California dating back to the Ice Age. Some people even say that the first humans made their homes on the southern valley of California. When the Europeans came to the west coast of America in the 1700's, everything was about to change.



Wasn't that a deep trip into history? Well, back to the task at hand. Mission San Gabriel was founded in September of 1771, on its planned site on the fertile plain along the Rio Hondo, today known as Montebello, California. The Mission was ruined by a flood in 1776, and was rebuilt 5 miles away in what today is known as San Gabriel. From Mission San Gabriel, the pueblo was sent and eventually founded Los Angeles.

Damage occurred on the outer architecture of the mission during the 1812 earthquakes that shook the entire foundation of California. The three-bell campanario, located near the chapel's east fa?ade, fully collapsed and was destroyed. The bigger 6-bell structure was then moved to compensate for the ruptured campanario. While no pictorial record exists to document what the original structure looked like, architectural historian Rexford Newcomb deduced the design and published a depiction in his 1916 work The Franciscan Mission Architecture of Alta California.

Why do we discuss all this, and how does it apply to our understanding of the Spanish Revival style of architecture? Well, the history of Mission San Gabriel makes it clear that the missions of California have weathered a lot of storms, and some are only mere copies of what they once were. This makes an interesting point because it shows that in many ways the missions themselves are copies of what they once were, and the Revival style is merely a copy of a copy. Even though we know this, it doesn't dampen our fascination with this style. People still today in California and all over the nation are using the architectural vocabulary of this style to build their homes and civic establishments.

Take for example a lovely Spanish Revival building in St. Louis, by the architect T.P. Barnett, son of George I. Barnett, another famous architect in St. Louis. The T.P. Barnett building is particularly interesting because it also has Art Deco influences, making it one of the most unique buildings in the Grand Center region of St. Louis. Certainly the next time you're in St. Louis, you need to visit this Spanish Revival building on Washington Avenue.