Site of Santa Cruz Mission

The bronze stands in Plaza Park, once the center of a 32-building mission complex, and ends by pointing a block away: the last building remains on School Street. It does not say what that building was. Ohlone and Yokuts people built it between 1822 and 1824, and it housed Indigenous families who lived and worked at the mission; State Parks calls it the only such housing still standing in California. Its last Indigenous owners sold their share in 1848. The state bought the adobe in 1958 and opened it to visitors in 1991.

What the plaque says

Site of Santa Cruz Mission Mision la Exaltacion de la Santa Cruz, the 12th Franciscan mission, was consecrated by Father Fermin Lasuen in August 1791. In 1793 the adobe church was built where the Holy Cross Catholic Church is now located. The mission was damaged by several earthquakes and finally collapsed in 1857. Plaza Park is located at the center of the mission complex which contained 32 buildings at the time of its secularization in 1834; the last building remains on School Street. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 342 Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the Monterey Viejo Chapter 1846 of E Clampus Vitus and the Santa Cruz Historical Society, October 2, 1982.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Branciforte — 0.9 mi
• Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk — 1.2 mi
• The Mystery Spot — 3.1 mi
• Camp Capitola Superintendent's Office — 4.4 mi