A guide to La Purisima State Historical Park, a faithful restoration of a California mission in a beautiful, inviting rural setting.
Looking for a travel destination offering scenery and history and off the beaten track? Look to La Purisima State Historical Park in Lompoc, California.
Originally founded in 1787 as part of the Spanish colonial effort, the original buildings were destroyed in an earthquake in 1812. The buildings were quickly rebuilt, but abandoned during secularization. In 1933 the Union Oil Company who owned the land at that time donated the mission and surrounding lands to the public. Several years later, restoration began and it is the faithfulness of that restoration that makes La Purisima so unique among the California missions.
La Purisima is one of the few California missions that doesn't double as a modern Catholic church. Instead, it is a state park whose "mission" is to give visitors a chance to step back in time and see what life was like when La Purisima was a working mission community. The faithful preservation reminds visitors of the ruggedness of mission life.
The various shops and craft rooms will show you the array of skills the native Americans learned and practiced to keep the community going under the supervision of the Padres.
Many of the cement pathways are uneven and hard on the feet.
When you go in the church, you notice there are no pews for people to sit in. That's because back in those days, worshipers would either stand or sit on the floor.
You also learn that the fountain was not just a decoration, but part of the water system which involved a great deal of hard labor on the part of the Native Americans who lived there.
La Purisima is unique because it is one of the few missions in California that is not in an urban area. Part of a rather large state park far from town, the facility offers hiking trails, beautiful views of the flower fields the Lompoc valley is famous for, and many quiet spots for rest and reflection.
La Purisima is within easy driving distance of Solvang and about a little more than an hour's drive from the Santa Barbara area. While there, you may want to check out some of the wineries in the Santa Ynez Valley.
To reach La Purisima from Highway 101, the major nearby highway, exit Highway 246 and go west about 15 miles. You will see the sign.
This is a mission worth visiting. To prepare for your visit, you might want to type in "La Purisima" on a search engine and look at the many sites with photos of the mission buildings.
