Hollywood Pilgrimage Memorial Monument

The cross was originally erected in 1923 and was built as a memorial to Christine Wetherill Stevenson. She was a paint fortune heiress who helped to build the Hollywood Bowl. After encountering creative differences she later decided to build her own theater across the canyon, called the Pilgrimage Theater (now the John Anson Ford Amphitheater), to house her performance, «The Pilgrimage Play.»
After her death, an illuminated 40-​foot wooden cross was erected on the hill above the theater in her remembrance. The cross would be illuminated in the evening hours during Easter when her play was being performed. In 1941 the theater and the land was donated to the county and the theater was renamed. The plays continued until 1964 when religious lawsuits caused the performances to come to an end.
In 1980 additional lawsuits challenged the maintenance and illumination of the cross on the hill. The cross went dark, and eventually, the neglected cross was destroyed. The land was eventually purchased by Hollywood Heritage and in 1985 and a new temporary 17-​feet-​high cross was erected from pieces of the destroyed cross. In 1993 the current cross was erected. In 1995 it became Historic Cultural Monument No.617. Finally, in 1997 the Church on the Way took over the care and maintenance of the cross.
The best way to access this historic cross is from the street off N. Cahuenga. Blvd. Park at Ford Amphitheater and walk down the street and make the short hike up a very slippery and steep hill.