Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa

The city of San Luis Obispo began here. Father Junípero Serra founded this mission on September 1, 1772, erecting a cross near San Luis Creek and celebrating the first mass — making it the fifth in California's mission chain. The Chumash, whose labor built the mission, set its original wooden structures ablaze in resistance; the buildings were rebuilt in adobe and tile. Today it remains an active Catholic parish, and its L-shaped nave — the only such design among California's missions — is unchanged.