Catalina Islands CA

Although artifacts of Native Americans go back as far as 7,000 years, there is no written record of the island before 1542. In that year the Spanish explorer Don Cabrillo discovered Santa Catalina and named it after Saint Catherine of Alexandria. He was just charting though, and never landed. The island remained Spanish territory until the Civil war, when an encampment of Union soldiers were stationed there making preparations for Catalina to be an Indian Reservation. -Plans that fell through, of course, but one of their buildings remains in Two harbors even today.

In the late 1880's Avalon formed by then-owner George Shatto, and sailboats from all over began taking vacationers or Avalon. In 1889 the oldest fishing club in the US, the 'Avalon Tuna club' was founded and made an instant hit with notables like Zane Grey, John Wayne, and even Winston Churchill as members. The club still goes strong today, located on the main strip in Avalon.

There have been two major fires in the history of Catalina Island. You may have heard of the forest fire they had last July, 2006... It was in a remote part of the highlands near the airport, and no one was hurt. Locals, however, still refer to 'the fire' of 1915, which started in the Grand Hotel Metropole, and destroyed half of the city.

In 1919, William Wrigley (of chewing gum fame) bought the island without even seeing it, but when he and his wife Ada first laid eyes on it, they pledged their lives to making it the most grand vacation destination ever. They spent all of their time and effort for the rest of their lives building the island to the retreat paradise it is today. Ada had many projects, including a huge steel-caged bird sanctuary, but her favorite was the Botanical garden, where they are both buried today. William brought industry, mining, electricity, the sewer system, and many other important improvements, and passed the legacy on to his son Phillip.

The Wrigleys brought two even more important things to the island before handing it over to the current owners. The ceramic industry of the 1930s, and Hollywood.

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