On Easter Sunday, March 31, 1782, Spanish missionary, Father Junipero Serra, founded Mission San Buenaventura. On the beach south of the present-day mission church, he blessed an area of land and planted a wooden cross. Mission San Buenaventura was the ninth in the series of California Missions to be founded by Father Serra, and it was his last. Serra stayed only three weeks before leaving for Santa Barbara.

Shortly after the Mission's founding, a large wooden cross was planted on top of a hill overlooking the Mission church. This highly visible cross served as a road sign for travelers in search of the Mission. The original cross was eventually lost to the elements and replaced in the 1860s. After the second cross blew down in a storm on November 5, 1875, it was not replaced for almost 40 years. Then, on Admissions Day, September 9, in 1912, members of the E.C.O. Club, a ladies service organization, erected a new wooden cross in the current location. The E.C.O. Club was dedicated to bringing culture and a historical perspective to the frontier.

The land on which the cross was erected did not become a city park until 1918 when Kenneth and Tonie Grant donated 107 hillside acres to the City of San Buenaventura. Over the years, there have been a number of improvements to the property surrounding the cross. The first roads leading up to the cross were built around 1920. As part of the festivities for the 150th anniversary mass on the site on March 31, 1932, the circular stone pedestal around the cross was built, as well as a concrete pathway up to the pedestal. Much of this is in place today with minor adjustments. In 1941, the city replaced the 1912 cross with the one that stands here today. The current park landscaping was installed by the Downtown Lions Club in the mid 1960s.

In the spring of 2003, the wooden cross located in Grant Park was threatened by a potential constitutional lawsuit charging that the principle of separation of church and state was being violated by the City of San Buenaventura's ownership and maintenance of a cross. Similar lawsuits in other communities had resulted in those cities being forced by the courts to divest themselves of their crosses. The City of San Buenaventura City Council voted on July 31, 2003, to sell the cross and an acre of land surrounding it to the highest bidder. On September 22, 2003, the Serra Cross Park was sold to San Buenaventura Heritage, Inc., the highest bidder, for $104,216.87.

An international society of stonemasons, aka, Rocknockers, held their annual workshop and symposium in Ventura. As part of the workshop they constructed two ramparts at Serra Cross Park. The work commenced on January 8, 2010 and was completed just as it began to rain on January 17th.

Several of the participants camped at the cross and enjoyed the best view in Ventura including amazing sunsets. The "DRY STONE WALLING WORKSHOP" was led by Jyungi and Suminori Awata. The Awata's are 14th and 15th generation stonemasons who specialize in the restoration of medieval Japanese castle walls throughout Japan.

Tomas Lipps of Santa Fe, New Mexico organized the workshop. Lipps worked on a public art project in Pasadena in 2003. That project brought him to Ventura to work with local sculptor, Paul Lindhard, at Art City. Lipps was looking for a temperate place to hold a winter workshop and immediately thought of Ventura. Lindhard helped pick the Serra Cross site. The walling workshop consisted of young male and female stonemasons.

The city Water Works prepped the area by digging trenches to reroute and protect existing water lines. The city workers were both professional and efficient at their jobs.

When Michael Racine, owner of Studio 1 in Oxnard, and I arrived at Serra Cross on the evening of January 7th , we were able to observe the beginning stages of the workshop although it didn't officially begin until the 8th. One of the accomplishment of our many treks was the recording of history - Racine's by photographing the project from beginning to end taking over 700 photos. My recording, of course, is via writing. Some of Racine's photos can be seen rotating in the left column of this page and more will be added to his photography web page at Town Biz 101 (www.townbiz101.com) in days to come. In addition, many other observers were there over the nine day period to learn the skills taught at the workshop.

On that first day, an elder was sketching the design using a small rock as his drawing tool and the pavement as his pad. He laid out how the rocks were to be placed. We, the observers, continued to journey up to the park on a daily basis for the duration of the workshop. Most days my five-year old granddaughter, Rachel, made the journey to this historical workshop, too.

Attendees learned how to break the boulders into the shapes and sizes needed to make a structure that could stand on its own without the need for mortar or concrete. Although the parking area was used for the equipment and the boulders, the park was open for walk-in observers. It was an event I am glad we were able to participate in.

Approximately 400-tons of sandstone boulders were donated by Larry Mosler who owns a quarry in Ojai. Meals were donated on a daily basis.

This experience just reinforced my belief that Ventura is the best place in the world to live.