The 20th of the 21 California missions, San Rafael was originally founded as an ''asistencia'' or adjunct to Mission Dolores in San Francisco in 1817, but was promoted to full mission status in 1822. San Rafael was a hospital mission, tending the sick from Spanish settlements and natives. The first mission secularized, it was used by General John C. Fremont during the Mexican-American War, and during statehood as the Marin County Courthouse. The original church was torn down in 1861, and a series of Catholic churches were erected at that site. The mission chapel has been restored in 1949, and tours of the site as well as a museum containing three original mission bells are open to the public.

Local

Eat and Drink

• The Baked Bear - San Francisco (13.0 miles) - We are a custom ice cream sandwich shop where we bake fresh cookies from scratch daily with homemade...
• Zazie Restaurant - San Francisco (15.1 miles) - Zazie is a small neighborhood bistro in Cole Valley, San Francisco, serving southern French cuisine ...
• Super Duper Burger - San Francisco (15.4 miles) - Burgers shouldn't cost $3. Fresh, quality produce, meat, dairy and buns, sourced from partners lo...
• Fuchsia Tree - San Francisco (15.7 miles) - The "Fuchsia Tree" is a charming private(apartment) suite in an 1879 Victorian, located in t...
• Eureka! - Berkeley (15.8 miles) - Eureka! is defined as expressing delight on finding, discovering or solving something. Those that tr...

See and Do

• San Francisco Electric Tour Company San Francsico (13.0 miles) - Ride with the Original Bay Area Segway Tour Company - The San Francisco Electric Tour Company Segway...
• Beach Blanket Babylon San Francisco (13.7 miles) - "Beach Blanket Babylon," San Francisco’s hilarious pop-culture musical revue, is the perfe...
• City Lights Booksellers & Publishers San Francisco (13.9 miles) - Founded in 1953 by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Peter D. Martin, City Lights is one of the few tru...
• GLIDE Church San Francisco (14.5 miles) - A radically inclusive, just, and loving community mobilized to alleviate suffering and break the cyc...
• SECRET FOOD TOURS SAN FRANCISCO California, United Sates (14.6 miles) - We are avid bay area foodies and as a result, we have made it our goal to introduce visitors to San ...