La Purisima State Historic Park

   

Situated near the city of Lompoc sits the most completely restored of California’s twenty one missions, Mission La Purisima Concepcion de Maria Santisma. The eleventh of the missions, founded on December 8, 1787 by Father Fermin de Lasuen, the feast day of the Immaculate Conception in the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church. The mission was one of three, along with San Buenaventura and Santa Barbara which were built to link the missions in the south to those farther north, to solidify the Spanish presence along the Santa Barbara Channel, and to keep the indigenous tribes in the area under Spanish control.

The original mission was situated south of the town of Lompoc, near what is now 508 South F Street. The site was well chosen, and soon after its founding the Mission was prospering. By 1804, the mission reached its highest number of neophytes, 1520. This was not to last. By 1812, a series of drought years and epidemics of measles, smallpox, and other diseases decimated the indigenous population. It was reported by the friars at the mission that the neophyte population had fallen to 999 and that the mission had several years of inadequate harvests. Then the earthquake of 1812 struck. The mission was severely damaged, torrential rains and flooding made the mission site uninhabitable. After trying to continue in rudimentary structures made of “poles and grass”, the mission padres decided to rebuild the mission at its present location about four miles northwest of the original site.

The padres petitioned the government to build and on March 30, 1813, permission was given to build a replacement mission on its current site. By 1821, the mission was largely completed with the exception of a mill that was added in 1827. By the death of Padre Mariano Payeras in 1823, who had led the mission since 1804, the mission had over ten thousand head of cattle, ten thousand sheep, over fourteen hundred horses, over three hundred mules, one hundred ten hogs, and thirty three goats. While the mission had a remarkable recovery from drought and natural disaster, the path had not been easy.

Beginning with the relocation of the mission in 1812, funding had not been forthcoming from the government in Mexico City. The Hidalgo Revolt had thrown the government into chaos and the missions and civil government in Alta California were left to their own devices. The civil and military officers began to require contributions from the missions in both goods and labor to meet the expenses of governing the province. The next setback was the Earthquake of 1812 which necessitated the relocation and rebuilding of the mission. Third was the death of Father Payeras, whose administrative skills helped the mission thrive, in the face of hardship and last, there was the Revolt of 1824, in which the indigenous people at Santa Ines revolted after a Chumash was severely beaten by a soldier. The Chumash set fire to the mission, partially destroying it. The Chumash at La Purisima forced the mission’s soldiers to surrender and took over the mission for a period of thirty days until they were forced to surrender after a three hour battle in which sixteen Chumash and one soldier were killed.

The Revolt of 1824 severely weakened Mission La Purisima’s ability to sustain itself. By 1832 only 322 Chumash remained at the mission and there were fewer that 14,000 head of livestock. Th annual report of 1832 would be the last one made for Mission La Purisima. In 1835, the mission was secularized and the last two resident padres were ordered to Mission Santa Ines. The mission became the property of the Government of Mexico and in six months the value of the buildings and land declined by over fifty percent. Despite a decree in 1843, which restored ownership of the mission to the Franciscans, Governor Pio Pico sold the remains of the mission, valued at nearly $62,000 in 1835, to John Temple of Los Angeles at auction for a mere $1,110.

In 1851, after California became a state, the Bishop Alemany of Monterey sued to have the property returned to the church. The suit was successful and the land was awarded to the Church. President Grant signed the patent on January 24, 1874. Mission La Purisima would remain church property for another nine years. In 1883, the Diocese of Monterey sold all of the mission property, with the exception of the church and cemetery and the former mission property was bought and sold several times as the mission buildings crumbled. In 1903, Union Oil of California acquired the mission and in 1915, deeded the property to the Landmarks Club of Southern California on condition that they raise $1500 to begin restoration. The Landmarks Club failed to do so and title reverted back to Union Oil.

In 1933, the land and remains of the mission were deeded to Santa Barbara County and then the deed was transferred to the state. In 1934, a Civilian Conservation Corps cam was established on site and with the National Park Service and restoration of the mission began in earnest. Using existing records and artifacts, the mission was restored as accurately as possible. The restored mission was dedicated on December 7, 1941 and became part of the Mission La Purisima State Historic Park. It remains the only fully restored mission in California. In 2009, a new visitor’s center was built with displays highlighting the Chumash, mission life and the restoration.

GETTING THERE: From 414 Mason Street: Get on I-80 West and continue onto US 101 South. Stay on US 101 South. Take exit 166 and turn right onto East Union Valley Parkway. After 1.5 miles, turn left onto CA 135 South/Orcutt Expressway. Continue onto CA 1 South. After 3.2 miles, take the ramp onto CA-1 South toward Lompoc/Vandenberg AFB. When you arrive at Vandenberg, turn left to stay n CA-1 toward Lompoc. Bear left onto La Purisima Road. The park entrance will be on your left. The trip is 298 miles and takes approximately five hours. The park’s address is 2295 Purisima Road, Lompoc, CA 93436.

The park is open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm daily except for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Days. The Visitor’s Center is open 10:00 to 4:00 Tuesday through Sunday and 11:00 to 4:00 on Mondays. The park’s phone number is: (805) 733-3713. Day use fees are $6.00 for parking and there is a discounted fee of $5.00 for those 62 and over. There are many places to stay and eat in Lompoc and the surrounding towns and cities.

Hamilton Field

Nestled on the eastern edge of Novato, along the Marin Country shore is a bit of aviation history.  During the First World War it became apparent that not only did nations need to have navies and armies to win wars, they were also going to need air forces.  Since the Civil War, the United States Army had used balloons for artillery spotting and reconnaissance but with the advent heavier than air flight, the role of military aviation began to rapidly change.  The US Army Signal Corps established an Aeronautical Division in 1907.  At that time, the Army only had eight balloons, used for observation and reconnaissance.  During that year, the Signal Corps purchased two more balloons and, in 1908, a small dirigible, bringing the total number of Army aircraft to eleven.

In 1909, the Army acquired its first airplane from the Wright Brothers and in 1910 it made its first flight.  In 1911, Congress appropriated $125,000 for the Army’s Aeronautical Division.  By the end of 1911, the Army Signal Corps had a total of six aircraft, and had conducted trials to prove the feasibility of aerial bombing.  Still, the fledgling Air Corps only had a handful of pilots including 2nd Lt. Henry “Hap” Arnold, who was one of the Army’s first flight instructors.  In 1913, the “1st Provisional Aero Squadron” was created, alter renamed the “1st Aero Squadron” and saw service in Mexico in 1916, becoming the first United States air combat unit.  It still exists as the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron and is headquartered at Beale Air Force Base.  With the outbreak of World War I, the European powers rapidly increased the size of their air forces and aeronautical technology rapidly advanced.  

By the time the United States entered the war in 1917, it was far behind the other warring nations in air strength.  By the end of the war, the US Army Air Service only made up 10% of the aeronautical strength of the Allied Powers and after the war, the Air Service, like the rest of the United States military, was rapidly reduced in size from 19,168 officers and 178,149 enlisted men in November 1918 to just 1,168 officers and 8,428 enlisted men by the end of June 1920.

During the late 1920’s the Army Air Corps began looking for a suitable location on the West Coast for an air base.  The Army settled on a location known as “Marin Meadows” and Marin County transferred the 937 acre site for $1.00.  Originally known as Air Corps Station, San Rafael, construction began on the airfield in 1932, the airfield was renamed “Hamilton Field” after 1st Lt. Lloyd Hamilton who received the Distinguish Flying Cross, posthumously, during World War I and was completed in 1935.  Upon completion, the airfield was officially dedicated on May 12, 1935 and ceremonially “handed over” to Brigadier General Henry, “Hap” Arnold who commanded the Army Air Corps’ 1st Wing.  Hamilton Field was to be primarily a bomber base and it was before the addition of pursuit (fighter) units.

During World War II, Hamilton Field was part of the Western Defense Command and served primarily as a training and transshipment base.  It was on December 7, 1941 that the six B-17 bombers of the 38 Reconnaissance Squadron from Hamilton Field arrived at Hickam Field in Hawaii while the Japanese attack was ongoing.  The personnel at Hickam was expecting the squadron and early in the attack radar operators confused the Japanese attack with the incoming squadron.  After the war was over and the Air Force was created in 1947, Hamilton Air Force Base remained in service, serving as the home for several units of the Air Defense Command were stationed at Hamilton including the 325th Fighter Wing, the 78th Fighter Wing,  the 556th Air Defense Group, the 1st Fighter Wing and the 26th Air Division all called Hamilton Air Force Base home.  NORAD’s Western Region Command was stationed at Hamilton until 1969.

By the early 70’s, the usefulness of Hamilton Air Force Base was declining.  Urban encroachment, lack of land to expand and an increasingly ambivalent, if not hostile, political climate all led to the deactivation of Hamilton as an active base in 1973.  In 1973, the base was transferred to the Army, the Navy used some of the housing and the Coast Guard used two of the hangars.  In 1976, the base was closed and placed in “caretaker status”.  In 1980 to 1983 a few of the barracks and other buildings were used as a refugee processing center.  From 1983-1990, Hamilton Field was the venue for the “Wings of Victory” air show, an annual event produced by the non-profit Hamilton Field Association. In 1993, the Army transferred its remaining portion of the base to the “New Hamilton Partnership” and redevelopment began.  In 1996, the Navy vacated the housing on base and the military presence on Hamilton Field ended, nearly sixty years after it began.

Today, several of the historic Spanish Revival style buildings and hangars have been restored and repurposed.  The developer had built several housing developments on the former base.  The former runway is no more, the levee that protected it having been intentionally breached and the area allowed to revert to marshland.  The Hamilton Field History Museum, a small but impressive museum housed in the former base fire station and staffed by volunteer docents who are more than eager to spend time explaining the history of the base to you is worth a visit, there are excellent displays covering the entire history of the base.

GETTING THERE: Take US101 N to exit 458 Nave Drive in Novato.  Merge onto Nave Drive.  Turn Right onto Main Gate Road, and continue on to Palm Drive and make a slight right onto South Palm Drive.  Then turn right onto Hangar Avenue.  The museum will be on your right at 555 Hangar Avenue.  The museum is open on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from Noon to 4:00 pm.  (415) 382-8614

 

Rosie The Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park

 

 

   World War Two is the event which changed the World, the United States and California forever. Before the War, California was, and in many places still is, an agricultural powerhouse; but the War made the Golden State an industrial one as well. As recently as 2018, manufacturing accounted for 10.67% of the state’s economic output worth $316.76 billion dollars. As early as the 1850’s, there was manufacturing in California, but it was the need for war materiel that accounted for the rapid expansion of the industrial sector of the state’s economy. With this growth came the need for workers, and millions came to the shipyards, factories, and manufacturing plants located in California, leaving a legacy of demographic diversity which exists today.

    The San Francisco Bay Area was transformed, seemingly overnight. Thousands of workers flooded the area filling jobs in the shipyards and factories which ran twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to meet the demands of the government for war materiel. One of the towns most heavily affected was Richmond. In 1930, Ford built a 500,000 square foot assembly plant in Richmond, which became the largest assembly plant built on the West Coast at that time. Production at the plant began in 1931 and Ford became the third largest employer in Richmond after Standard Oil and the Santa Fe Railroad. With the United States entry into World War Two, the Office of War Production issued an order that as of February 2, 1942 all production of civilian automobiles and light trucks would end for the duration of the war. In 1940, Henry J. Kaiser established the first of his four shipyards in Richmond which again provided employment for the citizens of Richmond and the surrounding area.

    During the war, the Ford Assembly plant became the “Richmond Tank Depot”, one of only three in the country, and 49,359 jeeps and 90,000 other vehicles were assembled there. The Kaiser Richmond shipyards produced 747 Liberty ships. After the war, the shipyards were shut down, however, the changes made to Richmond were permanent. Kaiser and others needed workers for thir plants so they recruited African-Americans and women to work as many of their male and Caucasian workers went into military service. Housing was built for the influx of new workers and cities boomed. Kaiser set up a health care system for his workers that became Kaiser Permanente Health Care, one of the country’s largest HMOs.

    The Ford Assembly Plant still stands and has been repurposed. In the oil building of the plant is the Rosie The Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park Visitor Center. In the Visitor Center is a small museum dedicated to the role of women in war production and how World War Two resulted in huge demographic shifts in the country and in the Bay Area. The park itself consists of twenty three sites, buildings and markers which tell the story and legacy of the war effort in the Bay Area and beyond. From the large scale employment of women and African-Americans, which led to the women’s rights and civil rights movements of the 1950’s to today to the sacrifices that the people at home made to support the war effort, to the institutions which were started during the war and continue today, the park does preserve and present the transformation of California and the country as a whole.

    Highlights of the park include the Ford Assembly Plant, which today houses several businesses including Mountain Hardware, the Rosie The Riveter Memorial located in Marina Bay Park on land that was the former Richmond Shipyard #2, two former wartime housing developments, Atchison and Nystrom Villages, the Nystrom School, the SS Red Oak Victory, the Cafeteria, Rigger’s Loft and the General Warehouse.

GETTING THERE: From 414 Mason Street, take I-80 East toward Sacramento. From I-80 East, take exit 13B, on the right, for I-580 West toward Richmond/San Rafael. From I-580 West take exit 9B to Cutting Boulevard. Turn right on Cutting Boulevard. Take the first right onto Harbour Way South. Stay on Harbour Way South until you see the National Park sign. Turn into the parking area and go to the back of the Ford Plant. Turn right and follow the access road to the Visitor Center. The Visitor Center is open from 10 am to 5 pm all year with the exception of New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: The Park’s website is https://www.nps.gov/rori/index.htm. The Park’s mailing address is 1414 Harbour Way South, Suite 3000, Richmond, CA 94804. The phone number is: 510-232-5050