Mission Mills Property

In 2008, SBTHP was awarded a technical assistance grant from the National Park Service's Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance (RTCA) Program to help facilitate partnership building, organizational development, and conceptual planning for the proposed park. With RTCA's help, California State Parks and SBTHP made initial contacts for a future partnership group that will help orchestrate efforts to open the Santa Ines Mission Mills property to public use.

Neighboring Old Mission Santa Ines has been an active partner in shaping the future park by granting trail easements to reconnect the Mills with the Mission. SBTHP planted 2,800 olive trees in order to reintroduce early Mission-era agriculture to the site. The currently envisioned system of walking trails through the olive grove will link the Mission complex to the Mills and provide interpretive opportunities for a significant era in California history. In October 2018, SBTHP presented a draft of the Initial Use Guidelines (IUG) for the Mills property to California State Parks' Planning Policy and Programming Committee (PPPC). In early 2019, PPPC approved the final draft of the IUG.

The next step in park planning is for California State Parks' Commission to approve the proposed naming and classification of the park unit. SBTHP continues to plan for future public access as well as the interpretation of the cultural and natural resources within the park and within the National Historic Landmark District. SBTHP is actively seeking community partners to participate in the planning process to develop equitable access and a sustainable plan for the long-term operation of the property for the benefit of the community.

In 1819, Fr. Francisco Xavier de la Concepcion Uria called for the construction of a water-powered grist mill in an effort to increase agricultural production at Mission Santa Ines. By 1820, two stone reservoirs and a stone mill building were built into the slope of a small hill above Alamo Pintado Creek, about a half mile from the church. Water was supplied by an earthen ditch or zanja that diverted water from Zanja de Cota Creek more than three miles away. The mill was of ancient design, using a horizontal wheel powered by a water jet to turn a mill stone attached to its axle. It was used to grind wheat, oats, and barley into flour and corn into meal.

A second mill, intended to increase the production of woolen cloth, was added to the upper end of the large reservoir on 1820/21. The fulling mill was designed by American-born Joseph Chapman. Chapman designed and supervised the construction of machinery that pounded and turned woolen cloth while it soaked in a solution of diatomaceous earth and urine. The fulling process tightened the weave of the cloth by removing excess grease (lanolin) and forcing the wool fibers to interlock.

With the coming of Mexican-era California in the 1820s, the industrialization of Mission agricultural enterprises slowed. In 1836, Mission Santa Ines was divided under orders from Mexican Governor Mariano Chico. Through a combination of good luck and respectful owners the entire complex has been preserved in its original agricultural context. Previous owners Ellen and Harry Knill, comprehending the immense value to history and understanding what it represents, not only took care to preserve the site, but sponsored archaelogical studies and roofed the mill buildings before selling the property to the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation in 1996.

Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1999 by the National Park Service for possessing national significance in commemorating history in the United States, the 95 acre area composing the district is currently owned by three separate entities: The Archdiocese of Los Angeles owns Old Mission Santa Ines (40 acres), California State Parks owns the Santa Ines Mission Mills property (39 acres), and the City of Solvang owns Lot 72 (16 acres). Founded in 1804, Mission Santa Ines is one of the finest examples of a Mission complex containing buildings, structures, archaelogical sites, ruins, and artwork important to understanding the Hispanic and Native America heritage of California. The fulling mill, built in 1821 by Jospeh Chapman, is one of the earliest industrial sites in California and the only known water-powered fulling mill on the West Coast. Together these attributes for the basis for the area's national distinction.