Avalon is the only incorporated city on Santa Catalina Island in California and the southernmost city in Los Angeles County. It is a small resort community known for its waterfront filled with tourism businesses, historic architecture, and scenic views. The city has a population of about 3,460 (as of 2020) and attracts nearly one million visitors each year, including cruise ship passengers.
Before European settlement, the Tongva people, who called the island Pimu or Pimugna, lived there and used its soapstone for cooking vessels. By the 1830s, the native population had disappeared or been relocated to the mainland. In the 1860s, Augustus William Timms operated a sheep business and ferry service at what became known as Timms’s Landing. By 1883, it had grown into a small settlement. Later, in 1919, William Wrigley Jr. took control of Avalon, developing it into a popular resort and building the famous Catalina Casino, shaping the city’s identity as a tourist destination.









