The Mission Dolores Basilica replaced a brick church built in 1876 that was destroyed in the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.

[10] The Spanish missionaries named the new mission San Francisco de Asís, in honor of Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan Order.

It became commonly known as Mission Dolores, after the nearby creek, Arroyo de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores (Our Lady of Sorrows Creek)"[11] On October 9, 1776, the missionaries dedicated a small chapel in present-day San Francisco as the Mission San Francisco.

[14] The construction of adobe walls for the Mission Dolores church began in 1788, with the Ohlone laborers manufacturing 36,000 bricks.

The roof beams were redwood and the ceiling displayed traditional Ohlone designs, painted in vegetable dyes.

The early 19th century saw the greatest period of activity at Mission San Francisco: At its peak in 1810–1820, the average Indian population at Pueblo Dolores was about 1,100 people.

Horses were corralled on Potrero Hill, and the milking sheds for the cows were located along Dolores Creek at what is today Mission High School.

[15] After the Mexican-American War ended in 1848, the Mission San Francisco and the rest of Alta California became part of the United States.

In 1848, the California Gold Rush brought a surge of American immigrants and commercial activity to the San Francisco area.

[20] The Franciscans sold or leased some of the remaining mission land to developers who built saloons and gambling halls.

[3] During the late 19th century, the archdiocese converted part of the old convent into a two-story wooden wing for use as a seminary and priests' residence.

[14] The construction of the new Mission Dolores Church experienced delays due to the American entry into World War I in 1917.

In 1952, Archbishop John J. Mitty announced that Pope Pius XII had elevated Mission Dolores to the status of a minor basilica.

The sculpture depicts Serra wearing a Franciscan friar's robe belted at the waist with a knotted rope and a rosary around his neck.

[27] The Mission Dolores Basilica contains a stained glass window of Francis of Assisi, created by the German artist Franz Xaver Zettler at the time of the church's construction.