San José de la Laguna Mission

The church's own date is earlier than the panel's. Laguna swore vassalage to Spain on July 4, 1699 and took the name San José de la Laguna from Governor Pedro Rodríguez Cubero, and the Park Service dates the stone church to 1699 to 1701. Above the altar hangs a painting of San José on buffalo hide, made in the seventeenth century when canvas was scarce, beside a hide canopy painted with sun, moon, stars and rainbow. For the 300th anniversary, on July 4, 1999, Laguna families mixed mud and straw and re-plastered the walls.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker San José de la Laguna Mission The picturesque mission church of San José de la Laguna was built around 1706 by Fray Antonio Miranda and shows the single - aisle floor plan commonly used in pueblo churches. It has been repaired many times, and acquired its distinctive white stucco exterior in 1977. (see other side) (cont' from front side) The church contains a beautiful and well - preserved altar screen made between 1800 and 1808 by a folk artist known only as the "Laguna santero." The interior walls are mud- plastered and white-washed, and the floor is made of packed earth. The handsome wooden ceiling is laid in a herringbone pattern.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Acoma Sky City — 15 mi
  Haak'u, the village on a sandstone mesa west of Albuquerque, seen only on the pueblo's own tours, with a mission whose roof beams were carried on foot from Mount Taylor.

More markers nearby

• Susie Rayos Marmon — steps away
• San José de la Laguna Mission — steps away
• Pueblo of Laguna — steps away
• Pueblo of Laguna — steps away