Heaven’s Bells

When Sunday drives were mandatory family outings for Southern Californians, spotting the occasional suspended mission bell was a car game for locals only. Along Highway 101, these once-familiar bells lining the El Camino Real--or “King’s Highway”--marked the roadway that linked California’s 21 missions. In 1906, after the state Federation of Women’s Clubs spearheaded the idea, the first El Camino Real bell was erected at La Placita church near Los Angeles’ Olvera Street; eventually, 450 dotted streets and roads along the approximate route of the padres, from San Diego to Sonoma. Due to theft and highway expansion, many bells disappeared.

But a movement by local women’s clubs with matching funds from the Automobile Club to reinstall the bells is underway. Not necessarily marking the exact route of the El Camino Real, the project pays tribute to the area’s Spanish heritage. Hence, replicas can be seen in Culver City and Hermosa Beach, places unlikely to have been traversed by friars. As for those bounty hunters of the original bells, take note: The current bells are concrete, sans clappers, making them a dubious collector’s trophy.