Mission Inn poem by John S. McGroarty, Riverside, CA, 1930

Subject: Hotels & Inns
Card type: Lithograph
Date: c. 1907 (Golden Age)

Back of Mission Inn poem by John S. McGroarty, Riverside, CA, 1930, c. 1907 lithograph postcard — Back

About this postcard

John S. McGroarty's poem "The Mission Inn" follows a traveler along California's old mission road, past fields of bloom and hills of flame, to the inn, where vesper bells ring in the campanile and a saint smiles from a niche. The closing lines imagine a new Saint Francis saying good-night on the old King's Highway. Line drawings of mission-style arches, a tower, and a palm tree accompany the verses and identify "California's Mission Inn, Riverside." The Mission Inn was a Riverside hotel developed by Frank Miller and built in the Mission Revival style; the poem presents it as a romantic stop on the old mission road.

Postcard Details

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THE MISSION INN One wandering day, with blue skies o'er me, Through vales aflow'r 'mong white peaks flung, I trod the way they fared before me In sandal shoon, when Time was young. I trod the way the brown priests led me— They that were dust before I came, Yet spake with me on winds that sped me By fields of bloom and hills of flame. They that are dust I followed after, Till came the dream-day to its close, And on the way, from roof to rafter, The Mission hospice towers rose. On dome and red roof softly clinging, I saw the lingering sunset play, And heard the bells of vesper ringing Within the campanile gray. Pater and Ave—night winds blowing— I passed to peace and waiting shrine, Where, in his niche, with soft lights glowing, There smiled some well-loved saint of mine. Roads of the world and every by-way, They sent us there at candle light To hear, upon the old King's Highway, A new Saint Francis speak "Good-night." John S. McGroarty. CALIFORNIA'S MISSION INN RIVERSIDE

PostmarkedRiverside, CA

Addressed to

Miss Nellie Olson

R 4- Box 48 Osseo, WI

Postcard record

Postmarked	Riverside, CA
Condition	Very good
Place addressed	Miss Nellie Olson, R 4- Box 48, Osseo, WI
Place depicted	Mission Inn, Riverside, CA
Place mentioned	Mission Inn, Riverside, CA
Stamp	1c George Washington, green, perforated on all sides
Stamp	1c Benjamin Franklin, green, perforated on all sides
Notes	Sepia line art printed on orange-toned stock; full-bleed with no white border. Postmark: RIVERSIDE 8 27 30 P CAL. Divided-back layout (printed shrine design left, address right); one-cent green Franklin adhesive stamp; textured tan stock; no handwritten message; light edge wear.

Cite this card

Mission Inn poem by John S. McGroarty, Riverside, CA, 1930, postcard, c. 1907. PostalPast Collection. https://postalpast.com/postcard/mission-inn-poem-by-john-s-mcgroarty-riverside-ca-1930. Accessed November 2, 2026.