Ace History Desk – On November 24, 1602, the eve of St. Catherine’s Day, Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno sighted three islands. He renamed Pimu, the largest island, Santa Catalina. Pimu—so-called by its native inhabitants, the Pimungan (or Pimuvit) people, was first discovered by Spaniards in October 1542, who claimed the island for their king.

Santa Catalina Island

“Twenty-six miles across the sea,
Santa Catalina is a-waitin’ for me…”

26 Miles (Santa Catalina). Sung by the Four Preps. Words and music by Glen Larson and Bruce Belland; Beechwood Music Corp., 1957normal

The Beach at Avalon, Santa Catalina Island, Cal. c1903. Photochrom Prints.

Archaeological evidence shows that the island was inhabited by maritime hunter-gatherers at least 7,000 years ago. Members of the Takic branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family, the residents developed a strong seagoing trade with the peoples of both nearby islands (Santa Barbara, San Nicolas, and probably San Clemente) and the mainland.

Aleut, Russian, and American hunters trapped sea otters in Santa Catalina waters while the island was controlled by Spain. Under subsequent Mexican rule, smugglers used Santa Catalina as a warehouse for undeclared cargo. Under the terms of the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Santa Catalina became part of the United States.Avalon, Catalina Island. Pacific Photo Co., c1911. Panoramic Photographs.

In his 1898 book Happy Days in Southern California, Frederick Hastings Rindge wrote lyrically of the island:

In the distance the islands—Santa Catalina (Saint Catherine’s Isle), Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz—hold up their haughty heads, proud of their victories over the storms.

…In aboriginal days, these islands were more populous than the mainland.

But Catalina is the isle that appeals to the people. Her rock-bound coasts are jeweled with abalones: she is the queen of the sea’s domain. Wonderful is she for her submarine gardens in the still waters.

The abalone shells are sent to New York to be made into buttons, and are brought back to California for sale. They should be made here and give wages to our own.

“By the Side of the Sunset Sea.” In Happy Days in Southern California, by Frederick Hastings Rindge. Cambridge, Mass., Los Angeles, Cal., 1898. [Image 25] “California as I Saw It”: First-Person Narratives of California’s Early Years, 1849 to 1900. General Collectionsnormal

Steamship ticket office at pier, Avalon, Catalina Island, Calif. [between 1900 and 1915]. Detroit Publishing Company.

In the twentieth century, Santa Catalina became a vacation spot. Tourists traveled to the island to visit its hotels and watch its famous flying fish. Avalon, the island’s only city, was incorporated in 1913. In 1972, most of the island’s interior and forty-eight miles of coastline were deeded to the nonprofit Catalina Island Conservancy.

Although the popular 1950s song said Santa Catalina is “Twenty-six miles across the sea,” it is only approximately twenty miles from Los Angeles.

Learn More

• View more images of the island. Search the Library of Congress photographs collections on the term Santa Catalina.
• A 1720 map of California by Nicolas de Fer is available through Discovery and Exploration, a section of the Maps Collections. Zoom in on the cluster of islands to see the Isla d. Sa. Catalina — Santa Catalina Island.

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