San Juan Bautista

Small Historical Towns California Central Coast

How Spanish and American lifestyles co-existed in early California is exhibited in this quaint town.

The town sits on the El Camino Real and the San Andreas Fault. When the principal north-south stage coach route moved west, San Juan Bautista declined in commercial importance. But the mission and the flower seed business have flourished continuously.

The American Zola, Frank Norris, wrote The Octopus here. The Mission, hotel, and cafe scenes are nearly identical to the way he described them nearly 100 years ago.

This was also one of the homes of Tiburcio Vasquez, the fabled social bandit. Also a couple of revolutions were launched from here. And the Mexico-U.S. War almost got started here. In 1846 famed interloper, Captain John C. Fremont and Kit Carson built a fort here to defy the Mexican government.

Nowadays, there is a prosperous antiques center, a state historical park, good examples of old adobe structures, a museum, a noteworthy rare gem shop, and an interesting collection of ethnic restaurants.

Two sides of the Plaza facing the Mission are lined with historic structures from California’s early days. The Castro-Breen adobe was home to Jose Castro’s family (he was military commander in Monterey), and to the Patrick Breen family, who were Donner Party survivors.

The centerpiece of San Juan Bautista, is really on the side.

The old mission, the largest and longest continually operating mission in California, was built along side the El Camino real and the great fault line.

On the north side of the mission, a portion of the original El Camino Real, in a dirt road, is still there. This was part of the 650 mile road built in the 1700s that connected all California missions.

A seismograph station is in front. And, drops in the immediate elevations, due to the constant quaking, are visible.

The bell tower was scene to the closing moments of Vertigo, the Hitchcock classic with Kim Novak and Jimmy Stewart. Novak lives near here now. She raises pot bellied pigs and llamas, with her veterinarian husband, and is very unassuming.

Known as the Mission of Music, the church, praised for its acoustics, is host to a summer music festival, and a season of Christmas plays by El Teatro Campesino.

              

For profoundly symbolic reasons, Luis Valdez, the great American playwright, came to San Juan Bautista. He based his theater, El Teatro Campesino, and, has made his home here.

This artistic genius has proved to be an important economic force in this wildly interesting town. Teatro has a complete run of plays, many originals, each year. They sell all their tickets. And, movies with big name casts have been produced in San Juan Bautista because of Valdez.

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