Los Banos

The bronze that stood in the city park is gone, reported missing by 2024. The baths it named were pools near the head of the creek, where Padre Felipe Arroyo de la Cuesta of Mission San Juan Bautista stopped on his journeys into the valley to bring its people to the mission. He was also the priest who wrote down the Mutsun language, in a grammar composed by 1816 and printed in New York in 1861. The bronze's body kept the tilde in Baños that later Americans dropped from the creek; its own heading dropped it too.

What the plaque says

Los Banos Los Baños (the baths) del Padre Arroyo was a favorite bathing place for padres from San Juan Bautista Mission during their travels to the San Joaquin Valley. Visited as early as 1805 by Spanish explorers, its name was changed to Los Banos Creek by later American emigrants. The town of Los Banos was established at its present site in 1889, after the location of the post office of Los Banos near the creek in 1874. Registered Historical Landmark No. 550 Plaque placed by California State Park Commission in cooperation with Los Banos Parlor No. 206, Native Sons of the Golden West, and the City of Los Banos. April 25, 1957.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

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