New Book Shares History of San Diego’s Missions

MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - Sept. 4, 2013 - PRLog -- The newest addition to Arcadia Publishing’s popular Images of America series is Missions of San Diego from author Robert A. Bellezza. The book boasts more than 200 vintage images and memories of missions in the San Diego area. Missions of San Diego is the third book in Bellezza’s Mission Collection. Missions of Monterey and Missions of Central California are already published.
Missions of Los Angeles will be available in November 18, 2013, with
Missions of San Francisco Bay releasing in 2014.

California’s first settlement began on a trail called El Camino Real, or “The Royal Road,” that was traveled by missionary pathfinders, soldiers and conquistadors on a dramatic journey into a mysterious land. Monterey was discovered in 1603, leading to the quest. Explorers Don Gaspar de Portolá and Juan Bautista de Anza, along with ambitious Franciscan missionaries, founded 21 monumental Spanish missions and several asistencias and chapels for native neophytes, travelers and visitors to Alta California.

Following the initial landing in 1769 at San Diego’s seaport, Fr. Junípero Serra founded Mission San Diego de Alcalá, California’s first landmark, at the original presidio site. The mission stands today exactly where it was moved, rebuilt, and completed in 1813. The native populations of California witnessed years of change from a sleepy province to the status of US statehood. The Spanish missions forged the powerful underpinnings of the Golden State’s earliest settlements 80 years prior to the world’s largest migration to California, the 1849 Gold Rush. Images of America: Missions of San Diego chronicles this unique history through a collection of stunning images.

Available at area bookstores, independent retailers, and online retailers, or through Arcadia Publishing at (888)-313-2665 or online.  

Arcadia Publishing is the leading publisher of local and regional history in the United States.  Our mission is to make history accessible and meaningful through the publication of books on the heritage of America’s people and places.  Have we done a book on your town?  Visit www.arcadiapublishing.com/.