La Cruz was created on 23 July 1969 by decree 4354. In
Pre-Columbian times the area currently known as the canton de La Cruz, was part of a province of the Indians called
Chorotegas whose domains ranged from the Nicoya Peninsula to
Lake Nicaragua, made up of several villages or domains. The region was discovered by Don
Gil Gonzalez Davila in 1522, on their march to another province of the Chorotegas, which was under the authority of the chief of the
Nicarao people (in the territory now known as Nicaragua). In 1561 Don
Juan de Cavallon from
Granada passed through this area in his expedition to reach the Central Valley. In September 1562
Juan Vásquez de Coronado passed by this area too, who brought cattle and horses from
León. He also went through the region of
Perafán de Ribera in his journey towards
Cartago. In the second half of the nineteenth century, the first farmers from
Rivas, Nicaragua came to this region, beginning the formation of ranches. On March 20, 1856, our troops fought their first battle against the filibusters of
William Walker in the Hacienda Santa Rosa, and succeeded in defeating the invaders. In the government administration of
Ascensión Esquivel Ibarra, in 1906 the school was located fifty meters east of the existing lookout built by the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (National Tourism Chamber). In 1953, a new school was built called Salvador Villar Muñoz. The college named
Liceo La Cruz began teaching in 1969, the government of
José Joaquín Trejos Fernández as a supplementary educational secondary school, at first in the day and then at night, located at the school, in 1973 opened the current premises. Law No. 20, the 18th of October 1915, was enacted in the territorial division for administrative purposes, in which La Cruz was the third district of Liberia's canton. The first chapel was built in 1923, located at the northeast corner of the existing park. During the time of archbishop Monsignor
Víctor Manuel Sanabria Martínez, second
Archbishop of
Costa Rica, in 1949, the parish was erected, with devotion to the Holy Cross, which is currently suffrage of the Diocese of
Tilarán of the Ecclesiastical Province of Costa Rica. The pipe was opened in the year 1946, in the administration of former president
Teodoro Picado Michalski. In the government of José Joaquín Trejos Fernández, on July 23, 1969, law No. 4354, was granted the title of Villa of the town of La Cruz, head of canton set up with that purpose. Later, in Act No. 4574 of May 4, 1970, promulgated the Municipal Code, third article, that confirmed that this villa was now a City because of being head of the canton. On August 10, 1970 was held the first meeting of the Council of La Cruz, composed of the following owners: Piedad Loáiciga Salgado, President: Victor Manuel Hernandez Ortega, Vice President: Carlos Manuel Rodriguez Campos. The Municipal Executive was Sancho Felix Gallo and the City Clerk: Jose Luis Fallas Leitón. == Geography ==