Grouped around the original San Juan Mission plaza are five historic structures: Mission San Juan Bautista; the Plaza Hotel; the Castro-Breen Adobe; the Plaza Livery Stables; and the Zanetta House/Plaza Hall, forming a National Historic District. The plaza buildings were first proposed as a State Park in 1931 and as a National Historic District in 1970.  The Spanish-era plaza  is an excellent example of the rich Spanish-Mexican heritage of San Juan Bautista. The plaza was once used as a parade ground by Spanish soldiers guarding the mission.

The first level of the Plaza Hotel was constructed out of adobe in 1792, five years before Mission San Juan Bautista was founded, by the Franciscan padres to house Native American converts and laborers.

It was used from 1813-1814 as barracks for Spanish soldiers stationed as guards at the mission.  It then became the family home of the Anzar’s. Subsequently, they then moved and rented the home to the merchandising firm of McMahon and Griffin.

In 1853 Angelo Zanetta purchased the home from a trustee of the Anzar estate. He had the roof torn off and remodeled the building, adding a second story with a veranda facing the Plaza and extending the length of the building. On festival days this veranda would be occupied by spectators watching the heroic acts of horsemanship displayed on the Plaza below. Bull and bear fights were also featured there. June 24^th, St. John’s Day, was always the scene of the largest event as St. John is the patron saint to the town. The grand opening was on June 24, 1856, with as many as 5000 people in attendance.

The Plaza Hotel was noted for its fine cuisine throughout the state as many stagecoach lines maintained stations in San Juan Bautista through the 1870’s. Often there would be as many as five seating’s for dinner. It became the headquarters for traders of livestock from wide and far. W.S. Hayden bought the hotel from Angelo Zanetta in 1894 and then sold it in 1905 to Antione Taix. Today the hotel may be viewed by visitors to the San Juan Bautista State Park.