2003 photo by Jack Swords (copyright) at the
newly uncovered mission tile foor. Now protected by an awning, the ruins are
next to the modern church, just east of the Ensenada toll highway. GPS:
32°12'19.6" 116°54'19.2" Dominican mission records are lacking, and historians believe Descanso may have been only a new location for the mission of San Miguel, devastated by floods in 1817. The Descanso mission site was first located near the fort, on the south bank of the arroyo. In 1830, the final site was built.
Photo by Jack Swords (copyright) 
Ruins on the south bank of the Descanso valley
where Peveril Meigs identifies a fort, in his 1927 photograph. Photo by Jack
Swords (copyright) GPS: 32°11'59.4" 116°54'30.0" 
1927 photo by Peveril Miegs of Desacnso and the
fort location to the south is indicated (the original 1817 mission site). 
1927 mission plan by Meigs of the 1830 site for
Descanso. 
1949 photo of Descanso by Marquis McDonald