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As San Francisco celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding in 2026, another extraordinary anniversary will be commemorated at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption. Beginning with a special opening celebration on October 14 and continuing for six weeks, the Cathedral will host a major exhibition honoring St. Francis of Assisi, the patron…

San Francisco Marks 250 Years: Celebrating the Founding of Mission Dolores and the Birth of a City This October 9 and 10, San Francisco will commemorate a remarkable milestone: the 250th anniversary of the founding of Misión San Francisco de Asís, commonly known as Mission Dolores. The anniversary recalls October 9, 1776, when the mission…

By Damian Bacich On August 17, 2026, the California Missions Foundation lost longtime member and contributor Martha Ann Francisca Vallejo McGettigan. A descendant of Californios, Martha traced her ancestry to four early California families—Vallejo, Lugo, Carrillo and Espinoza—as well as to Maria Feliciana Arballo Gutiérrez López, who came to California with the 1775-76 Anza expedition.…

By Robert Jackson The noted historian Iris Engstrand passed away on September 12, 2026 at the age of 91. She was a Professor Emerita of History at the University of San Diego, where she joined the faculty in 1968.  She earned her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from the University of Southern  of Southern California.…

The California Missions Foundation invites our members, supporters, colleagues, and friends throughout California and beyond to submit nominations for consideration for CMF’s annual awards honoring outstanding achievement in the preservation, study, interpretation, and stewardship of California’s historic missions and related sites. Each year, CMF recognizes individuals and organizations whose preservation work, scholarship, leadership, service, and…

The California Missions Foundation is proud to announce details of its 2027 California Missions and Presidios Conference, a two-day gathering to be held in Santa Barbara on Friday and Saturday, February 19–20, 2027. The annual conference brings together historians, scholars, preservationists, archaeologists, mission representatives and others interested in the history and preservation of California’s missions,…

Semi-quincentennial Grant to Repair Mission Basilica San Buenaventura Plaster, Save America’s Treasures Grant to Stabilize Mission San Francisco Sanctuary Latest Awards Bring CMF’s Federal Preservation Funding to $3.5 Million Through Five Grants Secured Over the Past Four Years SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The Santa Barbara-based California Missions Foundation (CMF) has been awarded two major federal…