San Juan Bautista Plaza Historic District

San Juan Bautista's plaza in San Benito County, California, is surrounded by five historic buildings that together preserve a 19th century village laid out on the traditional Spanish-Mexican Colonial plan. The mission, founded in 1797, was secularized in 1835, and the Mexican government made the settlement a pueblo that same year. The plaza began as a parade ground for soldiers guarding the mission. Around it stand the mission church, built 1803-12 and measuring 210 by 77 feet; Plaza Hall, begun in 1815 and rebuilt by Angelo Zanetta; the Plaza Hotel, a former 1813-14 barracks given a second story in 1858; the 1874 Plaza Stable; and the Castro House, a two-story adobe built in 1840-41 by Jose Castro. The buildings have been carefully restored, no modern intrusions mar the setting, and most are open to visitors. Their survival as a group gives the plaza its national significance.