Monterey Beach Cross
The cross on the beach of Monterey, which I’d photographed, was cut down by vandals this past weekend.
Monterey historian Jim Conway says the cross was put up in December 1969 during Monterey’s bicentennial celebration. The cross is similar to one erected about 240 years ago by an exploration party headed by Gaspar de Portola. The expedition used the cross to mark party headed by Gaspar de Portola. The expedition used the cross to mark the spot for future expeditions But they didn’t know they’d actually found Monterey Bay, which was originally discovered in 1602, until their second visit to the peninsula They saw the cross they’d left and figured the huge body of water in front of them must be the bay first discovered by Sebastian Vizcaino The Portola expedition eventually settled the peninsula, creating a mission.1
1 KSBW
jump to the comment form ↓
Sep 28, 07:01 PM
This makes me so sad— what has to go through your mind to decide that you’re going to chop a landmark down anyway?
Oct 8, 09:25 AM
The Monterey City Council voted to replace the cross “on condition that the public raise $50,000 in private donations for the project”.