Catalina Island

This is a well-documented book on the history of Catalina Island. The vision of George Shatto, a businessman from Grand Rapids, Michigan, was to develop Avalon as a pleasure resort. He purchased Catalina Island in 1887. Financial difficulties caused George Shatto to default on his loans and he lost the island in 1891. The Banning Brothers of Wilmington, CA purchased the island in 1891. On November 29, 1915, there was a massive fire in Avalon that nearly destroyed half of Avalon. The result was the Banning brothers had financial difficulties and sold the island to a group of businessmen in 1919. William Wrigley invested in Catalina Island. Mr. Wrigley built the Hotel Atwater. The hotel had a large cafeteria that could serve 1500 people. The cafeteria was said to be the largest cafeteria in the world at that time covering an entire block. The Chicago Cubs traveled to Catalina for annual Spring Training. During the 1930’s, movie celebrities were a common sight on the island because of filming projects. William Wrigley died in 1932. After William’s death, his only son, Philip T. Wrigley, took over the Santa Catalina Island Company. Phillip Wrigley’s son, William, took over the Santa Catalina Island Company in 1977. William carried on his grandfather’s dream and the family interests until his death in 1999. The lure of Catalina Island as an enchanting island in the Pacific remains the same.

It was really great learning the history of Catalina Island along with some great photos.

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I grew up in San Clemente California, Catalina used to be hardly any body or any animal there now there's hundreds of buffaloes and lots of people. This book brought back memories and told a great story of the beauty of the island I urge anybody to go on an adventure with this book. And then one day go on an adventure to the island!

I loved the photos with the caption explaining the photo. I was just there and enjoyed learning more about the island.