Established: September 8, 1797

By: Father Fermin Lasuen

Order: 17th of the 21 missions

Named for: King Ferdinand the 2nd of Spain

Location: in a valley 25 miles NW of Los Angeles

Named for: King Fernando

Interesting Fact: In the mid-1800's, the mission grounds yielded both oil and gold before it was discovered in 1842.

Mission San Fernando Rey dé España was built in 1779, it was founded by Fray Fermin dé Lausen. It was named after King Fernando, who was once a king of Spain, Rey dé España means"King of Spain". it was the 17th mission in the chain of 21.

Mission San Fernando was famous for it's excellent wine, it produced 2,000 gallons of wine a year, and 2,000 gallons of Brandy a Year. The Indians made wine by picking grapes off the vineyards. They had to step on the grapes, the grape juice would drain into the wooden pipes, until it made wine.

Mission San Fernando was also famous for it's many buildings. It was said that if you aligned the buildings of Mission San Fernando it would stretch a mile. There were many building at mission San Fernando because, it was a popular sight for travelers back then. The Indian's worked very hard to make adobé bricks. Adobé bricks, are bricks made out oe mud, straw, and animal manure. Then they were set out to dry. Mission San Fernando had a fairly large, and decorative church.. the church measured 166' by 35'. There is a bell tower next to the church, that has 3 bells. There is also a large fountain in the center of the courtyard, that is still working today.

The end of mission San Fernando was a terrible time, they didn't have enough money to support the mission. In 1846, the lands of mission San Fernando were sold. On August 14, 1916, people came to support the rebuilding of the mission. In 1971 it was a terrible year for the mission, an earthquake destroyed te entire church of the mission. In 1972, a replica of the original church was built. The bells at the mission resemble the original bells. A library contains many old books that were used at the mission. Mission San Fernando Rey dé España is now a museum, it welcomes all it's visitors.