Mission Dolores

What you need to know

Mission San Francisco de Asís, known as Mission Dolores, is the oldest intact building in San Francisco. The adobe chapel has stood since 1791 and survived the 1906 earthquake without major damage.

The mission was founded in 1776 by Father Francisco Palóu, working under Junípero Serra, five days before the Declaration of Independence was signed. The first site was near a creek (Arroyo de los Dolores, which gave the mission its common name) but proved too cold and damp. Construction of the current chapel began in 1782. Ohlone people provided most of the labor, much of it coerced, and many died from European diseases and the conditions of mission life.

The chapel interior remains largely as it was. The ceiling beams were lashed together with rawhide instead of nailed. The geometric ceiling decoration uses original vegetable-dye paint. The scale and decoration contrast with the larger basilica built next door in 1918.

The cemetery beside the chapel holds some of San Francisco’s earliest recorded burials, including Spanish and Mexican-era residents and early Gold Rush figures. A monument on the grounds acknowledges the thousands of Ohlone buried in unmarked plots.

The mission gave its name to the surrounding neighborhood, to Dolores Street (the palm-lined boulevard running south from the grounds), and to Mission Dolores Park three blocks south, which most people just call Dolores Park.

A small museum on the grounds displays artifacts, a diorama of the original mission complex, and exhibits on Ohlone life. The basilica next door is open to visitors and holds regular services.

Visiting takes less than an hour unless you read every gravestone. There is a small entrance fee that supports preservation. The mission is at 3321 16th Street at Dolores, three blocks from the 16th Street BART station.