Discover the Missions of Los Angeles

Nov. 12, 2013 - PRLog -- The newest addition to Arcadia Publishing’s popular Images of America series is Missions of Los Angeles by Robert A. Bellezza. The book is set to release on November 25, 2013 and showcases 200 vintage images of the historic missions in Los Angeles.

After establishing the settlement of San Francisco, visionary mission president Fr. Junipero Serra journeyed south to found Mission San Juan Capistrano, Alta California’s seventh, on November 1, 1776. By order of King Carlos III of Spain, El Pueblo de la Reina de los Ángeles (the Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels) was founded on September 4, 1781, following the recommendation of the first California governor, Felipe de Neve.

At nearby Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, de Neve gathered a group of 11 men, 11 women and 22 children, soldiers, mission priests and a few Indians and traveled nine miles to the banks of the Los Angeles River, blessing the new site. By 1800, the city of Los Angeles had a population of 300 with a meeting hall, guardhouse, army barracks and granary. Built a day’s journey apart on El Camino Real, the Mission San Fernando Rey de España was dedicated on September 8, 1797, and completed the lineage of California’s monumental landmark missions near Los Angeles.

Missions of Los Angeles is Robert Bellezza’s newest book from his California Missions series. This ground-breaking series is infused with incisive historical facts and black and white images of the original California monumental missions, early adobe buildings, depicting the saga of California's Spanish, Mexican heritage and entry to U.S. Statehood. The series premieres never before seen vintage images from the author's collection and unfolds with the era of romantic courtyard gardens, grand churches, bell towers, fiestas, and friars with colorful personalities who settled the Golden State's earliest destinations.

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/.