You May Know the Way to San Jose, But Do You Know How It Was Named?

Composed in Laguna Hills, California

On a recent speaking tour in California, a friend explained to me how the various west coast cities were named.  It turns out that cities beginning with the letters "San," such as San Diego, San Juan Capistrano, San Fernando, San Miguel and San Jose are named after male saints.

Cites that begin with "Santa," such as Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and  Santa Clara are named after female saints.

The theme got started over 500 years ago, when a Franciscan priest named Father Junipero Serra founded a string of missions as he and his group trundled up the west coast from Mexico. Father Serra was 55 at the time his journey started. He walked with a limp, but he traveled by mule to eventually found nine of the many missions that line the California coast.

The missions are known for the rounded roof tiles and wide arches, a design that is still widely employed in the Golden State today.

One of my clients gave me a thoughtful remembrance of our time together.  The gift was the book, The Missions of California, a picture book featuring the beautiful photographs of Melba Levick with text by Stanley Young.