It wasn’t until I came across this photo that I learned that Santa Catalina Island used to have its own amphitheater. Nestled in a hillside near the southern edge of Avalon, the island’s main town, it was built in 1904 by the Banning brothers, who owned the island at the time, and continued operations until 1931. In this circa 1909 photo, it looks like the amphitheater is sold out for a nighttime performance for those lucky souls able to escape the LA heat and spend some time enjoying Catalina’s cool ocean breezes.
Daytime shot of the Santa Catalina Island Amphitheatre in 1905:
A view of the Avalon foreshore as seen from the Santa Catalina Island amphitheater, circa 1914:
For more info, see Islapedia:
The remnants of the amphitheater are still there today. This image is undated but someone posted it on my Facebook page:
Must have been the only amphitheater with its’ own funicular station right smack at base level.