Misión San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmelo

Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Spanish Crown granted its missionaries permission to establish dozens of missions throughout the modern-day US Southwest. During this period, this region was the borderlands between Spain’s territory and those claimed by the British, French, and indigenous groups. The Mission of San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmelo was the second one of these institutions established in California in 1770. It was built of adobe originally, but then replaced by a stone structure in 1797. Because of its early founding and location, this church complex operated as a central point in the network of California missions. It also had California’s first library (in 1778), with approximately 30 books.