The History of Catalina Island

Catalina Island's story stretches back thousands of years. Understanding it adds meaning to a visit, because the Casino, the bison, the tile fountains and the empty backcountry all have origins in a chain of owners and ideas. Here is a short history, with notes on where to see it today.The first islanders. The Tongva people, whose homeland covered much of the Los Angeles basin, lived on the island, which they called Pimu, for thousands of years. They quarried soapstone, known as steatite, and carved bowls, ornaments and tools that were traded across the region. Villages dotted the coast, and canoes made of planks carried goods and people to the mainland. The Catalina Island Museum tells this story and shows artifacts, and it is a good place to begin.Explorers and names. In 1542 the Portuguese-born explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, sailing for Spain, visited the island. Sebastian Vizcaino arrived in 1602 and named it Santa Catalina after the saint whose feast day was near. For the next centuries the island saw otter hunters, smugglers, ranchers and prospectors, but few permanent settlers. Traces of old mining and ranching can still be found along some trails.The birth of Avalon. In the 1880s a developer named George Shatto laid out a town on the sheltered bay and called it Avalon. After financial troubles, the island passed to the Banning brothers, who built a larger resort, brought regular steamship service and promoted the island as a getaway. Tents, hotels, glass-bottom boats and fishing clubs followed, and visitors from Los Angeles began arriving by the thousand. A fire in 1915 destroyed much of the town, and it was rebuilt.Wrigley and the golden age. In 1919 William Wrigley Jr., the chewing gum magnate, took control of the island and set out to turn Avalon into a showplace. He improved the harbor and water supply, built the Casino, which opened in 1929, brought the Chicago Cubs for spring training and promoted the island nationally. The Wrigley family also supported Catalina tile and pottery, and the brightly glazed pieces still decorate buildings and fountains. Mount Ada, the family's hillside winter home, dates from this period.Hollywood and big bands. The Casino ballroom hosted national radio broadcasts of big bands in the 1930s and 1940s, drawing crowds that arrived on excursion steamers. Film crews used the island as a stand-in for exotic locales, and stars came for the fishing and the weather. In 1924 a small group of bison was brought to the island for a movie, and their descendants remain. Many of these stories are told in the museum and on the Casino tour.War years. During World War II the island was closed to ordinary tourism. The military used it for training, and the Casino and other buildings served wartime purposes. After the war, tourism returned, and Avalon settled into its present identity as a small resort community with limited cars, strict development rules and a loyal following.Conservation. In 1972 the Catalina Island Conservancy was founded, and the Wrigley family later deeded most of the island's land to it. Today the Conservancy protects roughly 88 percent of the island, manages the bison herd, restores habitat and runs the botanic garden and trails. This is why the interior remains so wild and why you need permits for hiking and camping.Reading the island as you travel. Notice the details as you move around. The tile on the Casino and fountains, the shape of Avalon's streets, the stone ruins on interior trails, the monument at the head of the canyon and the bison on the ridge are all chapters in the same story. Ask guides and museum staff questions, because many have family roots on the island and know stories that never made it into books. A visit becomes richer when you look for these traces, and the island rewards curiosity.Where to see the past. The Casino tour, the island museum, the Wrigley Memorial and the Mount Ada scenic route cover the Wrigley story. The bison expedition and the Trans-Catalina Trail reveal the conservation chapter. Two Harbors preserves the feel of an earlier, quieter island. Wherever you go, the history is close at hand, and it makes the island more than a pretty backdrop.