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Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo

Spanish mission in Carmel Valley, California

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 4, 2026
Entity authorityQ2689743 ↗
Source-derived summary

Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Río Carmelo (English: The Mission of Saint Charles Borromeo of the Carmel River), first built in 1771 (where the mission was moved to a year after its 1770 establishment in Monterey), is one of the most authentically restored Spanish missions in California in California. Located at the mouth of the Carmel River in Carmel, California, it is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark.

From 1770 until 1833, the Monterey/Carmel mission was the headquarters of all Alta California missions. It was headed by Junípero Serra from 1770 until his death in 1784. It was also the seat of the second mission presidente, Fermín Francisco de Lasuén, who oversaw the completion of nine more missions.

In 1833, the Alta California missions were secularized by the Mexican government. The extensive grazing lands were divided up into land grants, and Indigenous laborers were dispersed. By the mid-19th century, the Carmel mission structures had fallen into disrepair. The chapel was saved from total destruction when the roof was rebuilt in 1884. Two years later, ownership of the mission was transferred from a group of Franciscans to the Diocese of Monterey.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo” is spanish mission in Carmel Valley, California. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Mission, Carlos and Borromeo, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1771, 1770, 1833, 1784—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1770-01-01. For this dossier, Mission, Carlos and Borromeo is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “spanish mission in Carmel Valley, California” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2689743. VIAF identifies the subject as 121789260. The Library of Congress control number is n84239563. Authority coordinates are 36.543, -121.919. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1771, 1770, 1833 and 1784.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.