 Coop's
Mission Map
By Steve Johnson, September 18, 2000
Coop's Maps [http://www.coopsmaps.com],
maker of specialty maps, has released it's latest offering, "Roadmap
Guide to the Mission Churches". I've always been fascinated with
Spanish Missions of the desert south west. Most have graveyards containing
burials dating back to the 1600s. I plunked down my $6.95 at Amazon.com
and received it the very next day.
The map portrays states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and
the northern states of Mexico. Major highways are marked along with small
to large cities, state and national forests, rivers, grasslands, and refuges.
Missions are marked with either a solid cross, indicating a standing
mission, or a dotted cross, indicating mission ruins. Some 87 standing
missions and over 100 mission ruins are identified. The map includes a
bibliography citing its sources, as well as a brief history and timeline
of the mission system.
On the reverse side of the map is a guide providing some useful information,
noting whether there is a museum on the premises, indicating if a fee
is required, and if the church is still active. It also tells you how
old the mission is, who founded it, and some historical facts. For example,
regarding the Nuestra Senora de los Angeles de Porciuncula de los Pecos
in New Mexico, it says:
"The mammoth, multi-storied adobe church at Pecos was completed
in 1625, but was subsquently destroyed in the 1680 revolt. A replacement
was built on the foundations and completed by 1718. The mission was completely
abandoned by 1838. In 1967 the foundations of the pre-Revolt mission were
discovered"
Each mission listing includes the street address, phone number, and hours
of visitation.
Only those missions that have reached "cabacera" status are
marked on the map. Asistencias are not marked. Says Bryan Cooperrider
of Coop's Maps, "There are many asistencias throughout the mission
system, and they are unfortunately, not as well documented as the cabaceras.
One exception is the California asistencias. It became impractical to
include all of the asistencias, and once we included some, we felt obligated
to include all of them. This is why we chose to leave them off the map."
Nonetheless, if you are a mission aficionado, this map will become a
well used tool for locating missions.
Coop's Maps publishes other specialty maps including those for Railroad
Museums, Microbreweries, Dinosaur Sites, and Rollercoasters. They are
working on others maps for Hotsprings and Volcanoes.
- Steve Paul Johnson
Purchase
the Map Online.
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