Entry No. 16 — the Santa Cruz file — filed under: adobe

Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park (Neary-Rodriguez Adobe)

The last surviving building of Mission Santa Cruz — and the only known Native Californian family housing still standing at any Alta California mission (a seven-room adobe, not a single room) — it sits a few blocks from where, on October 12, 1812, mission neophytes strangled Padre Andrés Quintana over his use of a metal-tipped whip; the killing was kept hidden for decades, surfacing publicly only through a mission-born survivor's account recorded in an 1877 interview.

The move: Take the short, quiet self-guided tour of the 1820s adobe (Thu/Fri/Sat/Mon, 10am-4pm) then walk two blocks to Holy Cross Church at 126 High St, built directly on the original mission's footprint, and piece together the 1818 pirate raid and 1857 earthquake collapse that both scar this same half-acre of ground.

• 📍 Mission Hill, Santa Cruz
• 💸 $$
• ⚡ Up for anything
• 🌗 Indoors

Where: 144 School St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Hours: Added 2026-07-20 — confirm current hours before you go.

Plan a visit & invite your people →

Further reading: parks.ca.gov · Wikipedia · Official site

last checked: 2026-07-20