Santa Cruz (Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the largest city and the county seat of Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 62,956. Situated on the northern edge of Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz is a popular tourist destination, owing to its beaches, surf culture, and historic landmarks. Santa Cruz was founded by the Spanish in 1791, when Fermín de Lasuén established Mission Santa Cruz. Soon after, a settlement grew up near the mission called Branciforte, which came to be known across Alta California for its lawlessness. With the Mexican secularization of the Californian missions in 1833, the former mission was divided and granted as rancho grants. Following the American Conquest of California and the admission of California as a U. S. state in 1850, Santa Cruz was incorporated as a town in 1866, and became a charter city in 1876. The completion of the South Pacific Coast Railroad in 1880 and the creation of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in 1904 solidified the city's status as a seaside resort community, while the establishment of the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1965 made Santa Cruz a college town.