The mission remains in use as a parish church to this day. After being closed to the public for six years due to the 2003 San Simeon earthquake, the church re-opened on December 22, 2009. Inside the church are murals by Esteban Munras. Father Presidente Fermin Francisco de Lasuen founded the mission on July 25, 1797, making it the sixteenth California mission. Its location between Mission San Luis Obispo and Mission San Antonio de Padua provided a stop on the trip that had previously taken two days. In 1803, the mission reported an Indian population of 908, while its lands grazed 809 cattle, 3,223 sheep, 342 horses and 29 mules. That year's harvest included about 2,186 fanegas of wheat and corn (A fanega was about 220 pounds). Most of the mission burned, while still being developed, in 1806. It was rebuilt within a year.