Founding of Mission Santa Cruz

Background. The mission, formally La Misión de la Exaltación de la Santa Cruz, was sited on the San Lorenzo River floodplain below what would later be named Mission Hill. It was originally established near the Uypi village of Aulintak, close to the river's mouth.

Founding and Dedication. Father Fermín Francisco de Lasuén, successor to Father Junípero Serra, is credited with founding the mission on August 28, 1791, the date the source gives for its establishment. The original mission was a small structure dedicated separately on September 25, 1791, so the founding and the dedication of the first building are distinct events within the same month.

Rebuilding and Purpose. Over the next three years, until 1793, the padres rebuilt the mission on the hill overlooking the river. As with other California missions, it served as a site for ecclesiastical conversion of natives, beginning with the Amah Mutsun people, the region's original inhabitants.