Mission Santa Clara de Asís is founded…
January 1777 CE
Mission Santa Clara de Asís is founded in what is now Santa Clara, California, on January 12, 1777.
The outpost is originally established as La Misión Santa Clara de Thamien (or Mission Santa Clara de Thamien, a reference to the Tamyen people) at the native village of So-co-is-u-ka (meaning "Laurelwood", located on the Guadalupe River) January 12, 1777.
Here the Franciscan brothers erect a cross and shelter for worship to bring Christianity to the Ohlone and Costanoan peoples.
Floods, fires, and earthquakes damage many of the early structures and force relocation to higher ground.
The second site is known as Mission Santa Clara de Asís.
This is the first California mission to be named in honor of a woman and the only one now located on a university campus.