Calisphere: University of California Libraries
University of California: Calisphere: California Missions, 1780 Present
Images and informational text from which students explore the architecture, people and impact of California missions from 1780 to the present.
Buck Institute
Buck Institute for Education: Pblu: The 22nd California Mission
When fourth graders are required to learn their state history, this California teacher takes it across the curriculum implementing a project-based learning unit highlighting the Spanish Mission Era of California in the 18th and 19th...
Other
California Missions Resource Center
Peruse this thorough resource featuring historical California missions stretching from San Diego to San Francisco as the Spanish established themselves on the west coast of North America between 1768-1853. Read stories of the early...
Other
Sbc an Uncommon Mission
Read about the California missions that have contributed to California state history. View paintings of all twenty-one missions created by artist, Jerome Tupa. Includes a variety of activities, quizzes, puzzles, etc. to add to the...
Other
California Missions Virtual Tour
Be sure to play the beautiful Mission Music as you explore this colorful journey into the history of the California missions.
Scholastic
Scholastic: Spanish Missions of California
Students can use this page as a jumping off page to do research on Spanish missions in California. There are numerous links to Scholastic articles and to other websites on subtopics such as missionaries, Franciscans and places in...
Schools of California Online Resources for Education
Score: Your Mission: The Last Mission
This PBL unit has learners research existing California missions to find what they have in common looking at geography, native people, natural resources. Then, using their information, students work in groups to create their own final...
Other
California Missions Interactive
Follow behind the wheels of two bicyclists who rode from mission to mission and documented their journey. They kept in contact with fourth graders in Palo Alto, California who have been studying California Missions.
University of California
University of California: Robert B. Honeyman Jr. Collection
This collection at the University of California-Berkeley can now be accessed online through the Online Archive of California. It provides a vast collection of historically significant primary source images of early California and the...
Other
Cabrillo College: An Introduction to California's Native People: Missionization
This site discusses the mission movement in California and its effect on the Native Americans. Timeline of the missions' founding is also provided.
Other
The Missions Trail
Briefly describes each of the 21 California Missions that make up California's historic mission trail. The missions are located from San Diego to Sonoma.
Digital Public Library of America
Dpla: Spanish Missions in California
This primary source set uses documents, photographs, and artwork to tell the story of the development and impact of Spanish missions in California during the Mission period.
Huntington Library
Huntington Library: Coming to California [Pdf]
Detailed lesson plan that uses primary sources to help students learn about the people of California from pre-Columbian times to the Mexican rancho periods.
Other
American Journeys: Life of Father Junipero Serro, Founder of Franciscan Missions
This study of Junipero Serra's (1723-1789) life was first published in 1913. It's made available here with some great features. You can search the book for key terms, read background information on the author and the subject, print or...
Mission Tour
Mission Tour: Virtual Tour of California Missions: Secularization
This website tells about the emergence of secularization of Spanish California, which resulted in the decline of the missions.
Kidport
Missions of California (1769 1834)
Use this site to learn how the natives lived in missions and were educated and converted to Christianity. Also learn who established the missions and why they were created.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Primary Source Set: Spanish Missions in California
A collection that uses primary sources to explore the history of Spanish missions in California.
Library of Congress
Loc: California as I Saw It: First Person Narratives, 1849 1900
The Library of Congress makes available these eyewitness accounts of California's history from 1849 to 1900.
Museum of the City of San Francisco
Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco: California Before Gold Discovery
From the "Century" magazine, an article from 1890 by James Bidwell who came to California in 1841.
Lone Star Junction
Lone Star Junction: The Five Spanish Missions of Old San Antonio
A brief look at each of five Spanish missions established in the 1700s along the San Antonio River in California.
Library of Congress
Loc: Early California History: An Overview
Table of Contents of an easy-to-understand history of California ranging from the first peoples to the turn of the century and covers the topics of the Missions, the discovery of gold, the towns and the cities.
Other
American Journeys: Background on Francisco Palou and Father Junipero Serra
Find background information about the life of Father Junipero Serra and his biographer, Father Francisco Palou. Read about the missions they established in California and their work in converting Native Americans to Christianity. Click...
Other
San Diego History Center: Gaspar De Portola
The San Diego History Center provides the interesting story of Portola, an early governor of California. Provides a great story about Monterey.