Mission San Jose Bells End 2-Decade Silence

Bells of Mission San Jose broke two decades of silence Saturday.

The four bells, salvaged from the original building that was demolished by an earthquake in 1868, now hang in the tower of the rebuilt and restored church that was officially opened to the public this weekend.

Excavation of the original site, removal of a church building and rectory built there in the late 19th Century and reconstruction of the adobe mission conforming to church records and to archeological findings cost $4.5 million and took more than a decade.

There is still work to be done.

But now the church is open once more. And the bells ring.