Mission Nuestra Senora de la Soledad

Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad was founded on October 9, 1791 to minister and take in the Indians of the Salinas Valley. It was the thirteenth of the Spanish missions founded in California by members of the Franciscan Order.

The Ohlone, the original residents of the valley, were converted and brought to live here, followed by Esselen and Yokuts. Governor José Joaquín de Arrillaga was buried in the chapel after he died on July 24, 1814 during a visit to the Mission.

Though prosperous in its early years, the Mission declined after 1825. Nevertheless, Father Vicente Francisco de Sarría stayed on in poverty to serve the Indians until his death in 1835, when the mission was secularized. This was an attempt by the Mexican government to turn the California missions over to the Indians on whose lands the missions had been established.

The Mission lands were subsequently "regranted" to the Bishop of Monterey in 1859. For over a century after secularization the Mission sat crumbling in the wind and rain.

In 1954, when restoration was begun, only piles of adobe dirt and a few wall sections from the cuadrángulo (quadrangle) remained. The chapel was reconstructed and dedicated under the auspices of the Native Daughters of the Golden West on October 9, 1955. The ruins of the quadrangle, cemetery, and some of the outer rooms can still be seen. Governor Arrillaga's grave was identified and given a new marker.

Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad today serves as Nuestra Señora de La Soledad Catholic Church in the parish of Soledad. It is open to visitors, but is not used as a parish church.