Santa Cruz & Adjacent Counties

Santa Cruz County, California

Some History

In 1792 Spanish missionaries established Mission Santa Cruz, one of the original 21 California missions, at the site of what is now the city of Santa Cruz. Early Spanish, and later Mexican, records can be found here and also in surrounding counties.

Santa Cruz was one of the original counties formed when California joined the Union in 1850. The county was originally known as Branciforte. Like many counties, the boundaries changed during the early years. For this reason it may be advisable to extend your genealogical research to adjacent counties. For your convenience, we have listed our neighboring county genealogy links here. Be sure to visit them.

Visit Adjacent Counties

Monterey County | Santa Clara County |San Mateo County | San Benito County