Memorial Cross Park
A panorama of Memorial Cross Park, a small city park in Santa Clara, California adjoining the San Jose International Airport. Key features within the park include benches, olive trees, a low adobe perimeter wall with a small niche and tiled shrine in one corner, and a granite pedestal bounded by an oleander hedge.
Panorama of Memorial Cross Park
Nearest citySanta Clara, California
Coordinates37°22′10″N 121°56′27″W / 37.36944°N 121.94083°W / 37.36944; -121.94083
Area0.34 acres (0.14 ha)
CreatedNovember 19, 1907 (1907-11-19)
Public transit accessVTA, Route 60
Site of California's First State Capital
DesignatedSeptember 3, 1937
Reference no.250[1]

Memorial Cross Park, also known as Mission Cross Park, is a small 0.34-acre (0.14 ha) city park in Santa Clara, California which was the second, temporary site of the Mission Santa Clara de Asís, from 1779 to 1784. A large granite cross was donated to the city by a local Lions Club in 1953 and stood there until it was removed in late 2016 following a federal lawsuit filed by the Freedom from Religion Foundation.

History

The Mission Santa Clara de Asís was founded along the banks of the Guadalupe River, with the first Mass held on January 12, 1777. In January 1779, the Guadalupe flooded the original site, destroying it, and a second site was blessed by Father Junipero Serra on November 11, 1779.[2] The cornerstone for a new church was laid on November 19, 1781 at a third site, and after it was completed in May 1784, services were moved there from the temporary second site.[2]

This second Mission site is occupied by the present Mission (or Memorial) Cross Park,[3] at the northeast corner of the intersection of De La Cruz and Martin.[4] The city purchased the land as a park before 1907.[5] Reportedly, there were four structures at the second site: a church and sacristry, measuring 6×25 varas (a vara is a customary unit of measurement equal to 0.8375 m (2.75 ft)); servant's quarters (5×10 varas); a kitchen and shop (5×10 varas); and a residence and storeroom (5×45 varas).[6]: 57  The Native American Marcello, said to be "the Last of the Mission Indians", assisted in constructing the second site.[7]: 282  A memorial cross which had been placed near the city's Southern Pacific railroad station in 1912 to mark the second Mission site was moved approximately 200 ft (61 m) to the corner of Campbell and Franklin, where an old cornerstone had been unearthed in 1913.[8] However, the precise locations of the first two sites have not been proven; a cultural resource management project was conducted in the late 1970s covering the purported sites prior to an expansion of San Jose International Airport, involving a surface survey and trenching, which provided no definitive evidence for the presence of the mission at the first two claimed locations.[6]: 57 

Photograph of the wooden cross at the second Mission site (1916), by P.J. Riley

On November 19, 1907, an 8 ft (2.4 m) tall wooden cross was erected at the second Mission site by the Santa Clara County Historical Society.[9] That cross incorporated a fragment of the original 1777 cross and used the wooden timbers from the cross erected by Fr. Serra in 1781 at the third Mission site;[10] the timbers, in turn, had been part of the first Mission building built in 1777.[11] The original 1777 cross had been rebuilt and encased in new material in 1902 following a windstorm that had knocked it down,[12] and the 1907 cross sealed the 1781 timbers in a similar manner.[5] The president of Santa Clara College, Richard A. Gleeson, S.J., delivered the keynote speech during the dedication ceremony, entitled "The Birth of Christianity and Dawn of Civilization in Santa Clara Valley"; other speakers included James R. Daily, reading "The Mission Cross", a poem by Charles F. Walsh;[13] Rev. John W. Dinsmore ("Footprints of the Padres"); and historian Dr. George Wharton James ("Junipero Serra, Pioneer of Pioneers"). Politicians attending included former San Francisco Mayor James D. Phelan, who delivered brief remarks: "I am reminded of the American traveler who received a just rebuke from Lord Byron, who refused to see him because the American had never beheld Niagara Falls. We should first see and know our own land"[9] as well as Congressman Joseph R. Knowland.[5][14]

A larger 14 ft (4.3 m) tall granite cross was dedicated at the second site on January 12, 1953;[15][16] the principal speaker was Knowland (this time, as President of the California Historical Society) and Santa Clara Mayor William P. Kiely accepted the cross on behalf of the city.[17] The granite cross was originally donated by the local Lions Club.[18][16] It weighs 23 short tons (21 t) and was cut in Santa Rosa by Massimo Galeazzi to a design by John Costa,[19] although Jess Talancon would claim credit for design and execution in the 1970s;[20] the granite was quarried from Rocklin.[19] The park was developed in 1956, and the cross was rededicated to the city in 1961.[15] The city of Santa Clara considers it a mini park with 0.34 acres (0.14 ha) of area.[21][22]

Memorial Cross Park
Inscription noted this was the original site; later amended to note it was second.
2010 (with cross)
2021 (cross removed)

The Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) complained in 2012 the granite cross, sited on public land, violated the Constitutional separation of church and state in the United States. FFRF followed by filing a federal lawsuit on April 20, 2016 in the Northern District of California,[23] with the suit heard by Judge Lucy H. Koh.[24] City attorney Richard Nosky recommended to the City Council in November 2016 that ownership of the cross be transferred to Santa Clara University (SCU), with SCU bearing the cost of removal and moving; the council unanimously approved the recommendation.[15][25] The city removed the cross on December 27, 2016.[25][24]

The grounds of Memorial Cross Park are landscaped with oleander and olives, and adobe perimeter walls similar to early mission days bound the site.[26] Low-maintenance grass was installed along the street edge in 2018.[27]

Landmark status

Old Site of Mission Santa Clara de Asis

On September 3, 1937, the State Historic Preservation Office designated the old sites of Mission Santa Clara de Asis and old spanish bridge as a California Historical Landmark #250. A description on the commemorative plaque reads: "The first mission in this valley, Mission Santa Clara de Thamien, was established at this site by Franciscan Padres Tomás de la Peña and Joseph Antonio Marguia January 17, 1777. Here, at the Indian village of So-co-is-u-ka, they erected a cross and shelter for worship to bring Christianity to the Costanoan Indians."[1]

References

  1. 1 2 "Old Sites of Mission Santa Clara de Asis and old spanish bridge". Office of Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  2. 1 2 "History of Mission Santa Clara de Asis". Santa Clara University. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  3. ↑ "Parks and Recreation - Fund 532". 2015-16 City of Santa Clara Capital Improvement Project Budget (Report). City of Santa Clara. June 16, 2015. p. 4-12. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  4. ↑ "City of Santa Clara Parks & Facilities". City of Santa Clara. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 "Historical Society to Erect Memorial Cross". San Jose Daily Mercury. November 6, 1907. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  6. 1 2 Skowronek, Russell K.; Wizorek, Julie C. (Summer 1997). "Archaeology at Santa Clara de Asís: The Slow Rediscovery of a Moveable Mission" (PDF). Pacific Coast Archaeological Society Quarterly. 33 (3): 54–92. alternate PDF link
  7. ↑ Sawyer, Eugene T. (1922). "XXXI: The Romantic History of the Town of Santa Clara". History of Santa Clara County, California with Biographical Sketches of the Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been Identified With Its Growth and Development from the Early Days to the Present. Los Angeles, California: Historic Record Company. p. 277. ... there is plenty of corroboration for [Marcello's] story that he aided Padre Jose Antonio Murguia to build the adobe Mission on the second site, now marked by a simple white cross which stands some two hundred paces west of the Southern Pacific Railroad depot at Santa Clara
  8. ↑ "Santa Clara Memorial Cross Site Changed". San Jose Mercury Herald. December 1, 1915. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  9. 1 2 "Memorial cross marks second site of Mission". San Francisco Call. November 20, 1907. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  10. ↑ "To Observe Landmark Day in Mission Town". San Jose Mercury and Herald. November 10, 1907. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  11. ↑ "Will Raise Cross to Commemorate Mission". San Francisco Call. November 19, 1907. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  12. ↑ "Famous Mission Cross Will Again Be Raised". San Francisco Call. May 1, 1902. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  13. ↑ "Commemorative Exercises, Second Site Mission Santa Clara, 1907". Online Archive of California. 1907. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  14. ↑ "Raise Cross on Site of Santa Clara Mission". Los Angeles Herald. November 20, 1907. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  15. 1 2 3 Nosky, Richard (November 22, 2016). Approve Mission Cross Transfer and Removal Agreement between Santa Clara University and City of Santa Clara (PDF) (Report). City of Santa Clara. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  16. 1 2 Rodriguez, Joe (April 21, 2016). "Santa Clara atheist sues city over Christian cross at public park". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  17. ↑ "Founding of Santa Clara Is Celebrated". Oakland Tribune. January 13, 1953. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  18. ↑ "St. Clare Fete Set Monday". San Mateo Times. January 10, 1953. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  19. 1 2 "Santa Rosa Firm Builds Cross For Mission at Santa Clara". The Press Democrat. January 4, 1953. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  20. ↑ "Former Llanoan Is Expert In Tombstone, Memorial Art". The Llano News. July 27, 1972. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  21. ↑ "Appendix 8.8: Parks and Recreation Inventory". Santa Clara General Plan (Report). City of Santa Clara. July 2010. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  22. ↑ Park and Recreation Facilities Development Impact Fee Study (Report). City of Santa Clara. June 25, 2014. p. 7. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  23. ↑ "FFRF sues over cross in California public park" (Press release). Freedom from Religion Foundation. April 20, 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  24. 1 2 "Reason and the Constitution Prevail: FFRF lawsuit removes 14-foot cross in California" (Press release). Freedom from Religion Foundation. January 17, 2017. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  25. 1 2 Andrews, Diane (February 24, 2017). "Removal Of Park Cross: City Cave-In Or Prudent Compromise?". The Silicon Valley Voice. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  26. ↑ "Art & Statues: Memorial Cross". City of Santa Clara. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  27. ↑ "City News". City Manager's Office, City of Santa Clara. May 29, 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
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