Mission Santa Cruz - Decline and Preservation

Decline and Preservation

The front wall of the adobe mission, built in 1794, was destroyed by earthquakes in 1857. A wooden facade was added and the structure converted to other uses. A new wooden church was built next door in 1858. In 1889, the current Gothic style Holy Cross Church was built on the original adobe site. The only original Mission building left is a long multi-room building which at one time housed local Yokut and Ohlone Indian families. There is also a protected remnant of the mission church foundation wall behind the current Holy Cross Church. The parish address is 126 High Street. The road leading to the mission from the west is called Mission Street, which is also part of California State Route 1.

In 1931, Gladys Sullivan Doyle proposed to construct a half-size replica of the original Mission. She contributed 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. An adjoining room functions as a gift shop. A stone fountain from the original mission complex stands in the garden behind the gift shop.

Read more about this topic:  Mission Santa Cruz

Famous quotes containing the words decline and, decline and/or preservation:

    Or else I thought her supernatural;
    As though a sterner eye looked through her eye
    On this foul world in its decline and fall,
    On gangling stocks grown great, great stocks run dry,
    Ancestral pearls all pitched into a sty,
    Heroic reverie mocked by clown and knave....
    William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)

    Our achievements speak for themselves. What we have to keep track of are our failures, discouragements, and doubts. We tend to forget the past difficulties, the many false starts, and the painful groping. We see our past achievements as the end result of a clean forward thrust, and our present difficulties as signs of decline and decay.
    Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)

    If there is ANY THING which it is the duty of the WHOLE PEOPLE to never entrust to any hands but their own, that thing is the preservation and perpetuity, of their own liberties, and institutions.
    Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)