Editing Santa Cruz County, California (section)

==History==
Santa Cruz County was one of the original counties of California, created in 1850 at the time of statehood. In the original act, the county was given the name of "[[Branciforte]]" after the [[Spain|Spanish]] [[pueblo]] founded there in 1797. A major watercourse in the county, [[Branciforte Creek]], still bears this name. Less than two months later, on April 5, 1850,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/documents/CA_Consolidated_Chronology.htm |title=California: Consolidated Chronology of State and County Boundaries |publisher=The Newberry Library |access-date=March 12, 2022 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120109054712/https://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/documents/CA_Consolidated_Chronology.htm |archive-date=January 9, 2012}}</ref> the name was changed to "Santa Cruz" ("Holy Cross").

[[Mission Santa Cruz]], established in 1791 and completed in 1794, was destroyed by the [[1857 Fort Tejon earthquake]], but a smaller-scale replica was erected in 1931.