Community Corner
Easter Cross Stands as Shining Beacon for Peninsula
The 94 foot tall cross remains a landmark inspiring curiosity and awe in many neighborhoods in the Bay Area.
The big white cross up in Emerald Hills is a familiar sight to most Redwood City residents who have ever looked up at the horizon of lush green foliage just past Interstate 280. You can see "The Cross" (as it has been dubbed by the curious locals down below) from the field at , from on Upton Street, from as far away as Palo Alto...heck, you can see The Cross from my kitchen window. But what is "The Cross" exactly?
The answer dates back almost one hundred years, in the decade of the Roaring 20's of Redwood City life. The Emerald Lake Hills area had been developed several years earlier as a getaway for San Francisco residents tired of the strenuous and dispiriting World War I lifestyle of the time. In 1929, at the crest of California Way in Emerald Hills, an outdoor amphitheater christened the "Easter Bowl" was built, with an 82 foot tall cross denoting the highest point of the developed area. Thus, the creation of the first Easter Cross.
That's right, the cross that stands tall over the hills of Redwood City today is actually the second Easter Cross at that location, on the same land where the Easter Bowl (which no longer exists) used to stand.
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Why? Because years later the original cross would be horribly vandalized and subsequently rebuilt at an impressive height of 94 feet. This is the cross that we see today.
Although the Easter cross stands as a solitary tribute to the Lord, beckoning from down below in the flatlands, in actuality the Easter cross is surrounded by barbed wire fences and water towers, making it impossible for pedestrians to actually reach the base of the cross.
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The Easter Cross stands, still and tranquil, peaceful and serene, among the flowered hills and twisting, narrow roads of Emerald Hills, a landmark at nearly the very border of the Emerald Hills area.
Although climbing the hill and walking around near the cross is prohibited, there are many vantage points along the nearby roads that afford visitors a beautiful view of the majestic cross and the panoramic views surrounding it.
