The Journal of San Diego History
Summer 1985, Volume 31, Number 3
Raymond Starr, Book Review Editor
Contents of This Issue

Book Notes

Holy Cross Mission: A Documentary History of Santa Cruz.

Compiled by Francis J. Weber. Hong Kong: Libra Press Limited, 1984. 164 Pages. Price Unavailable.

The twelfth California mission was established on 28 August 1791 close by the San Lorenzo River. It came to be known as Mission Santa Cruz. After suffering excessive damage from rainfall and floods, the mission reached its zenith about 1830, but declined rapidly after that. An earthquake destroyed the mission in 1857. A 1900 account said that the ruins had been removed and a "large and extremely ugly brick church" stood on the site. In 1931 a replica was built-that is what tourists today see. The history of the mission is documented with some primary sources, but mostly with secondary accounts and poetry in this volume of Francis J. Weber's project to document the history of each of the California missions.