This is the Santa Cruz Missions of California Educational Project. Parental Supervision is Recommended.:

Santa Cruz became the 12th mission when founded on August 28, 1791, by Father Fermin de Lasuen. Despite its promising location, the mission was destined not to reach its potential. The nearby Branciforte pueblo was a community of ex-convicts and thieves. Its influence on straying Santa Cruz neophytes led frustrated padres to evacuate the mission in 1818. It was looted and damaged, and by 1831 only 300 Indians remained. A series of earthquakes in 1857 destroyed the mission. In 1889 a Gothic-style church named Holy Cross was built on the site. Nothing remains of the original mission except a row of buildings that housed Indian families. In 1931 Gladys Sullivan Doyle built a half-scale replica of the mission church near the original site, which serves as an active parish.: