Mission San Jose, photo by Harold Davis. View this image larger.

On a recent Saturday, Julian and I went to the Tech Museum in San Jose, California for the birthday party of Julian’s friend Sean.

On our way home we stopped at the Mission San Jose in Fremont, about fifteen miles away from downtown San Jose.

Mission San Jose was founded in 1797, the fourteenth of the twenty-one California missions. The mission is on the site of the town of Orisom, lived in for many generations by Ohlone Native Americans. Within a short number of years after the founding of the mission, the Ohlone who lived nearby were converted to the Spanish way of life—or were dead.

On a gray winter afternoon, the interior of the dark church was a challenge to this photographer. However, the thick adobe walls must present a dim, cool, and inviting interior during the hot months of the summer time.

Driving past endless strip malls and car dealerships from the hustle-and-bustle of modern downtown San Jose to the quiet piece of history that Mission San Jose remembers it is interesting to note how short the time is since the world moved to the beat of much slower music—and to consider, along with all the gains, what may have been lost in the rapid transition.

Related story: Mission San Juan Bautista.