What do the bells on the 101 mean?

OETTING: The first highway mission bells were installed in 1906. They were roadside markers placed every mile or so to help travelers find their way between California's coastal towns. By the mid-1950s, the highway bells were drumming up car tourism, leading road trippers between the missions.



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The mission bells seen along streets and highways in Los Angeles County and throughout California have been in place since the early 20th Century to mark the original route of El Camino Real (Spanish for Highway of the King or Royal Highway) from San Diego to Sonoma.

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Many Indigenous people see California mission bells as a reminder of painful history Some Native Americans wants the bells that mark El Camino Real in California removed. They say the highway markers symbolize the painful history of the missions. Others say removal erases history.

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Their history goes back to 1906, when Forbes designed the first of the El Camino Real Bells.

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In California, the name El Camino Real (“The Royal Road”) has resonated for generations. Extending over 600 miles from San Diego in the south to Sonoma in the north, El Camino Real was, in essence, California's first highway, connecting 21 Franciscan missions.

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Camino is a Spanish word, meaning “path,” “trail,” or, more generally “way.”

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A death knell is the ringing of a church bell to announce the death of a person. Historically, it was the second of three bells rung around death, the first being the passing bell to warn of impending death, and the last was the lych bell or corpse bell, which survives today as the funeral toll.

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