Chasing History: Exploring My Ancestral Roots - Blog Post #43 By Tonya McQuade
Avalon Bay, Santa Catalina Island, as it looked in 1905.
Photo courtesy of The Bancroft Library. University of California, Berkeley. [1]
In my last post, I wrote about the first stops on my great grandparents’ amazingly adventurous honeymoon: Del Monte (Monterey), Pacific Grove, and Santa Cruz. In this post, I will continue describing their adventures, as depicted in their photo album, along with providing additional research to better understand the places they visited. Here, once again, is the timeline they followed, based on the dates they have listed in their album:
Traughber Honeymoon Trip: 1905
Aug 17 - Wedding in San Jose
Aug 18 - Del Monte, CA (modern-day Pebble Beach in Monterey)
Aug 19 - Pacific Grove
Aug 20 - Santa Cruz Big Trees
Aug 22 - Catalina Island
Aug 25 - San Jose
Aug 26 - San Francisco
Unknown - Shasta Springs/Mt. Shasta
Unknown - Portland, Oregon’s “Lewis and Clark Centennial” World’s Fair
Aug 30 - Tacoma, Washington
Aug 31 - Seattle, Washington
Sept 4-9 - Yellowstone Nat’l Park
Unknown - Missoula, Montana
Unknown - Salt Lake City, Utah
Mid-Sept - Mexico, Missouri (to begin their new life)
After leaving the Hotel Del Monte, the newly-married Frank and Nora Traughber must have once again boarded the Southern Pacific Railroad, this time bound for Southern California. I’m not sure where they got off the train, but the next photos in their album show them on Catalina Island on August 22. I love that I have been to so many of the places they visited on their honeymoon and can compare my own memories with what they saw back in 1905.
I first visited Catalina Island when I was a student at U.C. Santa Barbara – and I visited it several times during that period because Intervarsity Christian Fellowship hosted its Spring Retreat there every year. The retreat served as a training ground for new leaders, and since I was a leader in UCSB’s Gaucho Christian Fellowship, I went for the training, the fellowship, the music, the Bible studies, the hikes, and the fun. The “Campus by the Sea” site for our retreat, however, was tucked into a secluded part of the island, and we only spent a minimal amount of time in the city of Avalon on the day of our arrival and departure.
On a return visit to Catalina with my husband Mike in 2012, I spent a lot more time in the city of Avalon itself. We were there in January, but they were calling it “June-u-ary” because the weather was so lovely and warm. We rode bikes in shorts, explored the Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Garden, and took a jeep tour to the other side of the island where we saw the “Airport in the Sky,” which sits at an elevation of 1602 feet, 10 miles from Avalon. We also watched a movie at the Avalon Theatre inside the Catalina Casino building, which was built in 1929 as one of the first theaters designed for talking movies, and explored the museum there. The Casino itself is now the largest building on the island and the most visible landmark.
The Avalon that Frank and Nora Petree experienced, however, was very different from the Avalon I saw. There was no Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Garden to visit, no Catalina Casino to explore, no movies to watch, no museum exhibits to browse, no jeeps to ride in, and no airport in the sky. So, what was there in 1905?
Naturalist and author Charles Frederick Holder, in the early 1900’s, described the approach to the island this way: “We are very near it now, sailing due south down the channel…. Watch the cliffs, how boldly they breast the sea, rising like the grim giants hundreds of feet in air, with thick beards of waving kelp at their base. Great slopes of green stretch away; then a glimpse of white beaches, of breaking waves gnawing at submerged rock; a flash of flying-fish wings; cañons—rivers of verdure—winding their way skyward; and, far away, the tops of the high mountains of Cabrillo, about whose crests float flecks of cloud in the drowsy air.” [2]
Town of Avalon on Santa Catalina Island with new Metropole Hotel and Grand View Hotel, ca.1905. Photo from Wikipedia Commons.
Clearly, as shown in this 1905 panoramic view of Avalon, there was a long pier, at least two large hotels, a steamer that brought tourists to the island, and space for many small boats to tie up or anchor. According to the information I found to go with this 1905 photo, legible signs on Avalon Bay Beach shore include: Meteor; Oliver P. Smith; Tony's; Chappie; E.M. Mathson; Compton; T. Washburn; Photographer; Bathhouse; Confectionery; Soda Water; Curios; Arlington Restaurant & Bar; Miller & Dye Bakery & Grocery; Bay View; E.F. Beeson & Co., general merchandise, Bakery & Delicacies; Jerroe's [...] Store; Rainier Beer; Pacific; and the Grand View Hotel. [3]
I certainly cannot make out all those signs, but that provides a glimpse of the options tourists had while on the island. Another 1905 photo shows the “Strand,” where mostly wooden buildings line the street. According to this photo’s caption, legible signs include the Grand View Hotel; Del Mar; Glenmore Hotel; Island Villa; Campus Virginia; Ocean View Metropole Annex no. 26; Avalon Inn; Camp Albert; Golf Links; Tennis Courts; McCall Patterns; Bristol Cafe; Darlington; Island Buffet, bar and restaurant; Cigars, Tobacco; Ladies Entrance; Hotel Bay View; and Billy’s Optimo Aquarium. [4]
Photograph of the Strand in Avalon, Santa Catalina Island, c. 1905
For all the hotels that seem to have been available on the island, it appears from their photos that Frank and Nora stayed at “Tent City,” also called “The Catalina Canvas City,” according to a postcard photo I found online.
Caption from Honeymoon Album: Our quarters in the “Tent City”
Catalina Island - Avalon, California - Tent City, Main Street, 1905 [5]
The photo of Frank and Nora comes from the album page of Catalina photos seen below, which features photos of Frank and Nora “waiting for ‘The Avalon’” and “watching the seagulls feed,” as well as viewing the Pacific Ocean and watching others “going for a swim.” I was very curious, though, about the one unlabeled photo, and was happy to discover the story behind it.
Captions: Catalina Island, Cal., Aug. 22, 1905.
Waiting for “The Avalon” / Our quarters in the “Tent City.”
Watching the seagulls feed. / A view of the PAcific. / Going for a swim.
That photo is of Frank standing next to two very large fish, and it looks fairly similar to this one I found online from 1900. Most likely, these fish were being shown off by the newest members of “Catalina’s Tuna Club,” as described below.
Woman stands with giant Pacific Bluefin Tuna she caught, Wt. 368 Lbs.,
Time 53 minutes. Circa 1900. [6]
First of all, I had no idea tuna could be that big! Apparently, though, Pacific bluefin tuna can grow to be very large, with the largest reported specimens reaching lengths of 9.8 feet and weighing up to 990 pounds.
The Tuna Club was the brainchild of naturalist Charles Frederick Holder, who understood that unsustainable fishing had long been a problem on the West Coast. Holder “witnessed the wanton waste of life with the fishing freaks and realized that no island, however bountiful, could forever sustain such human gluttony and greed. Overfishing would be bad for the tourism business, so he and his associates established the Tuna Club in 1898…. [They] established strict angling rules designed to give the fish what he considered an even chance for its life. The logic behind this being that far fewer fish could be taken with rod and reel than by handlines, therefore protecting the resources. Soon anglers and boatmen alike endorsed the club's motto of ‘Fair play for game fishes.’” [7]
Most fishing clubs at this time were based on a person’s social standing. By contrast, “to become a member of Catalina’s Tuna Club one had to catch ‘a Tuna weighing 100 pounds or over, or a Swordfish or Marlin Swordfish weighing 200 pounds or over on regulation tackle…’ The Club soon had members of such esteem as conservationist and president Theodore Roosevelt. Hollywood people like Cecil B. DeMille, Hal Roach, Joseph Jefferson, Stan Laurel, Jackie Coogan, and Charlie Chaplin also joined, and visitors like Winston Churchill graced the little club.” [8]
Whether Frank and Nora did any fishing while they were there, or whether they went for a swim, played tennis or gold, shopped at the stores, ate at the cafes, drank at the bars, or visited the aquarium, I cannot say for sure, but I’m guessing they enjoyed their time on the island.
One thing they would have seen, which I saw during my visits as well, was the Holly Hill House, which sits on a hill overlooking Avalon Bay. First named “Lookout Cot,” the house was built in 1890 as a private residence by Peter Gano, a retired engineer from Pasadena. He had purchased the lot for $500 in 1888. It still stands today and is Avalon’s oldest remaining structure.
(1903 vs. 2023) - Holly Hill House - Then and Now
At the time Frank and Nora visited, Catalina Island was primarily owned by the Banning Family. Prior to that, Catalina had passed through a series of hands until it was purchased in 1887 by developer George Shatto and his partner A.C. Sumner for $200,000. The two planned to develop it as a resort and fishing mecca. That same year, Shatto built the island’s first hotel, the Metropole, and at the suggestion of his sister-in-law Etta Whitney, “named the new city at the harbor ‘Avalon’ after the mythical paradise described by Alfred Lord Tennyson in his epic poem cycle, “Idylls of the King.” [9]
Shatto sold the island to the Banning family in January 1892. Soon after, the Bannings “began making major improvements to Avalon. They attempted to transform it into a high-class tourist destination, and under their stewardship, the island became a fashionable vacation spot for the well-to-do…. Their plans included taking complete control of access to the island. Visitors were not charged an entry fee, but only could be transported there on ships owned and operated by the family’s Wilmington Transportation Company.” [10]
There attempts to have a monopoly on transport to the island led to various disagreements and skirmishes, but going into that whole history is a bit beyond the scope of this blog post.
Moonlight over Catalina’s Avalon Bay, circa 1900.
Photo courtesy of the California Historical Society Collection - USC Libraries. [11]
Perhaps Frank and Nora enjoyed a sunset like this one as they left the island. It’s possible they made other stops in Southern California, perhaps to visit some of their relatives who lived there. The next place their album shows them, though, is back in San Jose for a brief stop to see family once again at the Petree House before heading to San Francisco. There, according to their album, they visited the Cliff House, Ocean Beach, Golden Gate Park’s Conservatory of Flowers, and the Sweeny Observatory atop Strawberry Hill to enjoy some views.
But more on that in Part III ...
Endnotes:
- Towne, Chiara. “How Catalina Evaded the Conquest | Lost LA | Food & Discovery.” PBS SoCal, 8 July 2016, https://www.pbssocal.org/shows/lost-la/how-catalina-evaded-the-conquest.
- Ibid.
- “File:Town of Avalon on Santa Catalina Island with new Metropole Hotel and Grand View Hotel, ca.1905 (CHS-1571).jpg.” Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Town_of_Avalon_on_Santa_Catalina_Island_with_new_Metropole_Hotel_and_Grand_View_Hotel,_ca.1905_(CHS-1571).jpg.
- Gnerre, Sam. “The early days of Avalon, Catalina Island’s only incorporated city.” South Bay History, 4 Mar 2022, https://sbhistoryblog.wordpress.com/2022/03/04/the-early-days-of-avalon-catalina-islands-only-incorporated-city/.
- “Catalina Island-Avalon California~Tent City Main Street~Catalina Canvas~1905.” PicClick, https://picclick.com/Catalina-Island-Avalon-California-Tent-City-Main-Street-Catalina-Canvas-1905-145289150513.html.
- Towne, Chiara. “How Catalina Evaded the Conquest | Lost LA | Food & Discovery.” PBS SoCal, 8 July 2016, https://www.pbssocal.org/shows/lost-la/how-catalina-evaded-the-conquest.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Gnerre, Sam. “The early days of Avalon, Catalina Island’s only incorporated city.” South Bay History, 4 Mar 2022, https://sbhistoryblog.wordpress.com/2022/03/04/the-early-days-of-avalon-catalina-islands-only-incorporated-city/.
- Towne, Chiara. “How Catalina Evaded the Conquest | Lost LA | Food & Discovery.” PBS SoCal, 8 July 2016, https://www.pbssocal.org/shows/lost-la/how-catalina-evaded-the-conquest.
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