Mission San Francisco de Asís (Mission Dolores) founding

Mission San Francisco de Asís, commonly called Mission Dolores, was founded on June 29, 1776 by Franciscan missionary Francisco Palóu under the direction of Junípero Serra. It was one of the 21 Spanish missions established in Alta California. The mission's late 18th-century adobe chapel is the oldest surviving structure in San Francisco. The site was central to the colonial-era establishment of the Presidio and Pueblo that became the city of San Francisco.