The plaque says, "MISSION SANTA CLARA
SANTA CLARA, THE FIRST CALIFORNIA MISSION TO HONOR A
WOMAN, CLARE OF ASSISI, AS ITS PATRON SAINT, WAS FOUND-
ED NEARBY ON THE GUADALUPE RIVER ON JANUARY 12, 1777.
IT ONCE HAD THE LARGEST INDIAN POPULATION OF ANY CAL-
IFORNIA MISSION. FLOODS AND EARTHQUAKE LED TO SUCCES-
SIVE RELOCATIONS. ITS FIFTH CHURCH WAS DEDICATED ON
THIS SITE IN 1825. IN 1851, SANTA CLARA COLLEGE WAS ES-
TABLISHED IN THE OLD MISSION BUILDINGS.
CALIFORNIA REGISTERED HISTORICAL LANDMARK No. 338
PLAQUE PLACED BY THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND
RECREATION IN COOPERATION WITH WILLIAM L. GATES,
CLASS OF '64, AND E CLAMPUS VITUS MOUNTAIN CHARLIE
CHAPTER No. 1850, JANUARY 12, 1980."
Taken from the book, "The Mission Santa Clara, reconstructed in 1927, from old drawings of the adobe mission church of 1822, is the university chapel. An earlier restoration was destroyed by fire in 1926. Students and faculty were able to save some articles dating from the Spanish period which have been incorporated in the new building; among these are a large crucifix, the holy-water fonts, the wooden statues of saints at the side altars, and the reredos over the high alter. Three bells dating from the late eighteenth century and destroyed in the fire were replaced by a gift from King Alphonso XIII. The large redwood cross in the front of the mission is the one which Spanish soldiers and indians put up in 1777 on the first site of the mission each time the mission was moved."
-- California: A guide to the Golden State, 1939
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