Capistrano Beach Limousine & Airport Car Service

History Of Capistrano Beach, California For more than 200 years, the Mission San Juan Capistrano has played a crucial part in the life of this city. Father Junipero Serra founded the “Jewel of the Mission” in 1776, and a town eventually grew up around the Catholic outpost. Built to help colonize California for the Spanish and to ease the local Indians into the Spanish culture, the mission today makes the city a major tourist draw. This is especially true during the annual March 19th celebration, marking the return of the swallows to their summer home. The St. Joseph’s Day celebration, once a day long religious commemoration, has evolved into a three week Heritage Festival sponsored by the local Fiesta Association. Today’s San Juan Capistrano is a mix of new residents and descendants of early ranchers and native Americans. Small, modern business developments are only blocks from the mission and other historic buildings, and housing projects spread east across the valley. Indian villages once dotted the small valleys near present-day San Juan Capistrano. Soon after the mission was built, cultivated fields, grazing lands, granaries and the making of ceramics, bricks, tiles and textiles made the settlement a self-contained village. In the 1850’s, San Juan Capistrano was booming. It was a convenient stopping place for travelers and prospectors on their way to the Northern California gold fields. In 1888, the California Central Railroad was extended from Santa Ana to Oceanside, which brought people to San Juan Capistrano. Between 1910 and 1920, electricity, paved roads and the telephone arrived. The 1950s brought swift changes, including the extension of the San Diego (I-5) Freeway through the city. The opening of the freeway in 1959 brought tourists – and the city began to realize its marketability. Information Provided by Orangecounty.net) Click for link