La Purisima Mission

La Purisima Mission in Lompoc California is one of California's La Misión de La Purísima Concepción de la Santísima Virgen María) was founded on the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin on December 8, 1787. The present and second site is located on the outskirts of Lompoc, California between Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. Lompoc was so small that the Catholic Church made an exception to the rule which stated that no mission was to be established within seven miles of any city (the original site of La Purisima was only one mile from Lompoc. It was moved four miles east of the town to its present location after the Santa Barbara Earthquake severely damaged the mission buildings on December 21, 1812. It is currently the only example in California of a complete Spanish Catholic mission complex. For more information visit: http://www.lapurisimamission.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_La_Pur%C3%ADsima_Concepci%C3%B3n http://www.yelp.com/biz/la-purisima-mission-state-historic-park-lompoc