Project Orientation and Rationale

Whereas the existence of the two storied tower (or torreon) that once stood at the southern end of the southeast convento wing fronting the plaza has been documented from various sources, and recovered archaeologically as a result of this project effort, little to no documentary evidence is said to support the existence of the purported quadrangular enclosure so often assumed to have served as a central feature of the early mission community of San Juan Bautista (see Baer 1958; Egenhoff 1952; Ehrenberg 1849; Engelhardt 1931; Johnson and Krell 1979; Miller 1856, cf. Miller 1985, 1993; Schuetz-Miller 1994). In addition, it should be noted that early in this investigation several historians visited the project area and in fact questioned the existence of the very mission quadrangle that loomed large in our project directives. As two of these investigators noted, little to no documentary evidence exists that actually points to the former layout of the quadrangular enclosure so often assumed to have served as a central feature of the early mission community. In addition, one of these same historians has questioned whether or not the southwest and northwest convento wings would have been spared the many years of road expansion and disturbance associated with the road bed of modern-day 2nd Street that fronts the mission on the southwest side. As a result of these basic and apparently unresolved issues into the architectural history of Mission San Juan Bautista, project objectives were first oriented to the salvage and recovery of any information deemed critical to the remapping of the original mission quadrangle; particularly in light of whether or not said quadrangle could actually be located and recovered.