By admin 
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif (KABC) — As the United States commemorates its 250th anniversary this year, the city of San Juan Capistrano is also marking a major milestone: 250 years of history rooted in one of California’s oldest communities.
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At the center of that history is Mission San Juan Capistrano, founded Nov. 1, 1776, by Father Junipero Serra and considered the birthplace of Orange County.
“Mission San Juan Capistrano has had the bells ringing for over 250 years and they still ring daily,” said Mechelle Lawrence Adams, executive director of Mission San Juan Capistrano.
Founded the same year as the nation, the mission remains a significant historic landmark. According to Adams, its role has evolved over the centuries.
“Today what a mission is in the 21st century it’s much bigger than what Father Serra probably ever envisioned,” Adams said. “With the contributions of the indigenous builders, it’s a place that respects the past through public programming. It’s a museum. It’s a garden. It’s a chapel.”
The mission is the only California mission with an all-stone structure still standing and serves as a monument to the state’s multicultural history.
“The chapel, which still stands as California’s most historically significant chapel, opens its doors for everybody,” Adams said.
A short distance from the mission is the Los Rios Historic District, described as the oldest continuously occupied neighborhood in California.
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“Next to us we have adobes from the 1770s,” said Damian Orozco, owner of The Tea House on Los Rios.
Orozco said his grandparents opened the business in what was once a single-family home. He said visitors are often struck by the district’s historic character.
“Being the oldest residential street in the entire state of California really takes a step back in time,” Orozco said. “And our guests that come, they wander on the street and they’re like where am I? I got transported to a different time.”
This fall, the historic community is preparing to celebrate its 250th anniversary, commemorating its past while looking toward the future.
“It can be quite a varied future for us but I think it will be one that’s founded in a great tradition of sacrifice, a great tradition of respect, and just the whole fighting spirit of what America means to us all,” Adams said. “We can go to a place that’s historically significant and we can find connection with the past and hopefully we can take that connection to have greater respect for what came before us.”
Mission San Juan Capistrano will mark its 250th anniversary on November 1 with a special anniversary bell ringing at noon, followed by a birthday celebration with cupcakes from 12pm to 2pm.
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