San Miguel Chapel Site: First Footprint of the Mission

The small park at Thompson Boulevard and Palm Street in downtown Ventura marks the site of the San Miguel Chapel, built in eighteen nineteen as a temporary outpost while the main Mission San Buenaventura was under construction nearby. The chapel stood just outside the southwest corner of the mission's walled garden and served as the operational center of the complex during the building years.

The site was excavated beginning in nineteen seventy-four by students from Moorpark College. The dig uncovered rock foundations, sections of the aqueduct that served the mission compound, and portions of a painted wall. Archaeologists also found artifacts from later periods, including remains associated with Ventura County's first courthouse, first jail, and first hospital, all of which were eventually built on or near the same ground. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in nineteen seventy-eight.