Mission Nuestra Señora Dolorosísima de la Soledad

The bronze stands by the road outside, under a mission bell, and says only that Soledad declined after 1825. The Salinas River flooded the mission in 1824, 1828 and 1832, and an epidemic followed the second flood. The Esselen, Chalon, Salinan and Yokuts people brought here died or left. After secularization Governor Pío Pico sold it for eight hundred dollars, and the walls melted for more than a century until one corner of the chapel was all that stood. The chapel rebuilt from 1954 was made, by one account, of adobe bricks formed from the ruin's own dust.

What the plaque says

Mission Nuestra Señora Dolorosísima de la Soledad This mission, founded October 9, 1791, by Father Fermin Francisco de Lasuén, ministered to the Indians of the Salinas Valley. Governor José Joaquín de Arrillaga died here July 24, 1814, and was buried in the chapel. Prosperous in its early years, Soledad declined after 1825. Father Vincente Francisco Sarría, who stayed on in poverty, faithfully served the Indians until his death in 1835. Secularized in 1835, the mission was regranted to the Bishop of Monterey in 1859. In ruins after 1874,the chapel was reconstructed and dedicated under the auspices of the Native Daughters of the Golden West, October 9, 1955. Registered Landmark No. 233 Plaque placed by Grand Parlors, Native Daughters of the Golden West and Native Sons of the Golden West, in cooperation with the California State Park Commission, October 14, 1956.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

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