Long before the Spanish Padres settled in Santa Barbara, the Native American Indians called the Chumash occupied this beautiful land.  The Chumash culture of south central California was actually a network of seventy-five to one hundred hunting, fishing, and gathering communities who spoke eight related languages and numbered between twenty thousand and thirty thousand members on the eve of Spanish arrival. These politically independent Chumash villages of various sizes were concentrated in three regions spread over an area encompassing seven thousand square miles.

The chain of 21 missions along California's El Camino Real ("The Royal Highway") represents the first arrival of non-Native Americans to California.

Santa Barbara Mission
Tenth Mission
Founded: December 4, 1786 by Father Fermin Lasuen
Named for: Saint Barbara
Location: (On a hill at the end of Laguna Street, overlooking the city of Santa Barbara)
2201 Laguna Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93105
Phone: (805) 682-4713 ext. 121
For more information about the Santa Barbara Mission visit www.sbmission.org/home.html

Old Mission Santa Ines
Nineteenth Mission
Founded: September 17, 1804 by Father Estevan Tapis
Named for: Saint Agnes
Location: in the town of Solvang, 3 miles east of U.S. Highway 101
For more information about the Old Mission Santa Ines visit www.missionsantaines.org