Mission Santa Cruz facts for kids
The Mission Santa Cruz chapel replica
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| Location | 130 Emmett St Santa Cruz, California 95060 |
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| Coordinates | 36°58′41″N 122°1′46″W / 36.97806°N 122.02944°W |
| Name as founded | La Misión de la Exaltación de la Santa Cruz |
| English translation | The Mission of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross |
| Patron | The Exaltation of the Cross |
| Nickname(s) | "The Hard-luck Mission" |
| Founding date | August 28, 1791 |
| Founding priest(s) | Father Fermín Francisco de Lasuén |
| Founding Order | Twelfth |
| Military district | Fourth |
| Native tribe(s) Spanish name(s) |
Awaswas, Mutsun, Yokuts Costeño |
| Native place name(s) | Aulintak |
| Baptisms | 2,765 |
| Marriages | 860 |
| Burials | 2,120 |
| Secularized | 1834 |
| Returned to the Church | 1859 |
| Governing body | California Department of Parks and Recreation; Diocese of Monterey |
| Current use | Santa Cruz Mission Adobe museum; Parish chapel |
| Reference no. | #75000484 |
| Reference no. | #342 |
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Mission Hill Area Historic District
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 Location in California
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| Location | Mission Street |
| Area | 38 acres (15 ha) |
| Architectural style | Spanish Colonial, Stick-Eastlake-Queen Anne—Victorian |
| NRHP reference No. | 76000530 |
| Added to NRHP | May 17, 1976 |
Mission Santa Cruz (La Misión de la Exaltación de la Santa Cruz, which translates as the Mission of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross) was a Spanish mission founded by the Franciscan order in what is now Santa Cruz, California. The mission was founded in 1791. It served as a church for native Californians.
The current Holy Cross Church was built on the site of the original mission church in 1889. It is still an active parish of the Diocese of Monterey. The only surviving mission building, a dormitory for Yokut and Ohlone Native American families, has been restored but is not actively used. It is a museum of the Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park.
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History
The Santa Cruz mission began being used as a church mission on August 28, 1791. It was a smaller mission in the fourth military district under the protection of the Presidio of San Francisco. The mission was flooded that winter when the San Lorenzo River swelled with the rains. Over the next three years, the padres (Spanish for "fathers," which is what priests were called) rebuilt the mission on higher ground.
In 1797, the secular pueblo (town) of Branciforte was founded across the San Lorenzo River to the east of Mission Santa Cruz. The padres did not like the town because they thought the settlers would tempt people to leave the mission.
In 1818, Mission Santa Cruz was evacuated because they were warned of a coming pirate attack. The priests asked citizens of Branciforte, several of whom were retired soldiers, to protect the mission's valuables. Later, when the valuables were missing, the priests accused the citizens of stealing them.
Decline and preservation
The front wall of the adobe mission, built in 1794, was destroyed by the 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake. A new wooden church was built next door in 1858. In 1889, the current Gothic Revival-style Holy Cross Church was built over part of the original sanctuary and cemetery. It faced the same direction as the original sanctuary.
At the same time, workers dug up the remains in the cemetery and moved them to a mass grave at Old Holy Cross Cemetery, a few miles to the east. Recently, local volunteers have been working to restore the old cemetery and identify the remains of those buried in the mission gravesite. A memorial was dedicated in 2016.
In 1931, Gladys Sullivan Doyle offered to build a reduced-size replica (an exact copy) of the original chapel. She paid all of the construction costs, on the condition that she be allowed to be buried inside. Her grave can be viewed in a small side room. The small replica chapel is mainly used for private services, daily Masses (M-F), and morning prayer on Saturdays. An adjoining room is used as a gift shop. A stone fountain from the original mission complex stands in the garden behind the gift shop.
Santa Cruz Mission Historic Park and District
The only surviving original adobe mission building, a dormitory for Native American residents, has been restored as part of the Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park as the Neary-Rodriguez Adobe. It is located at 144 School Street and can be toured during operating hours. The Santa Cruz Mission is designated California Historical Landmark number 342. The Neary-Rodriguez Adobe was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings in Santa Cruz County, California as site number 75000484 on February 24, 1975, and the Mission Hill Area as a United States Historic District as site number 76000530 on May 17, 1976.
Unidentified adobe foundations
In 1978, the stone foundations of an adobe were found on the east edge of Mission Hill in Santa Cruz. The area was named the "Lost Adobe" because so little is known about it. Based on artifacts found by archaeologists, it is thought that the structure used to house Yokut and Ohlone families living at the mission in the 1820s and 1830s. The Lost Adobe collapsed during the 19th century and no remnants remain. The area is on private property and visitors are not allowed.
Mission Hill train tunnel
Mission Santa Cruz has a hidden single-track gated railroad tunnel running under it. Railroad train service used to connect Oakland to Santa Cruz with a train going down the middle of Pacific Avenue on the way to the wharf. In 1876, South Pacific Coast Railroad built a railroad tunnel under Mission Santa Cruz to reroute train traffic out of the busy downtown corridor. The entrance can be found at the end of Amat Street with the tunnel going under the church's parking lot and Emmett Street and emerging at Chestnut Street. This is still an active rail line for Santa Cruz, Big Trees and Pacific Railway connecting Santa Cruz with Felton.
Interesting facts about Mission Santa Cruz
- This mission was the 12th mission out of the 21 California missions.
- It is the only mission not named after a person.
- The new mission (the one built on higher ground because of flooding) became known as the Hard Luck Mission because a disease had swept through the area that wiped out about half of its population.
- It used many redwood trees from the area to build the structures.
- It is one of four adobe buildings left in Santa Cruz County.
- Weddings are held at both the Holy Cross Parish Church and the Mission Chapel.
- There is a small garden behind the mission. It contains the original hand-carved baptismal font.
