The Santa Cruz mission , along with the other twenty-one Franciscan missions , was secularized within a few years after 1833 . Even before secularization , the Indian population had declined , and the adobe buildings slowly began to fall apart from wet weather and lack of maintenance . The chapel tower fell in 1840 and the entire front wall was destroyed in the 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake . In 1858 a " modern " church was built next door to the remaining rear portion of the chapel . That remainder was demolished in 1889 , when today 's Holy Cross church was built on the site , in a gothic style
1857 Fort Tejon earthquake
1857 Fort Tejon earthquake
Santa Cruz, California