Mission Santa Inés lies about 160 miles northwest of Los Angeles. It is the nineteenth of twenty-one California Missions established by Franciscan priests and Spanish soldiers. Founded on September 17, 1804, it is named in honor of Saint Agnes, an early Christian martyr of the fourth century. The mission site is midway between Mission Santa Barbara and Mission La Purísima Concepción, and was designed to serve the Chumash Indians living east of the Coast Range.

Saint Agnes (Santa Inés) was a young Roman girl who accepted Christianity early in life. She rebuffed the marriage proposal of the son of a Roman governor, stating that she had dedicated her life and heart to Jesus. In 304 AD she was beheaded, and became one of the most honored of the early Roman martyrs. Her statue, circa 18th Century, is located in a niche above the main altar of the mission.

Much of the original church was destroyed in the Great Santa Barbara earthquake on December 21, 1812. The church was rebuilt with 5-to-6-foot-thick adobe brick walls and great pine beams brought from nearby Figueroa Mountain and was re-dedicated on July 4, 1817.

The mission survived through tumultuous periods of Indian revolts, earthquakes, secularization by the Mexican government, abandonment, and plain old physical deterioration. In spite of the hardships, restoration of the mission continues to this day, and Santa Inés remains an active parish in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles faithfully serving the souls of the Santa Ynez Valley.