When Angelenos want to get away from it all, they have no shortage of places to go: the mountains, the beaches, the desert, north to Santa Barbara, south to Mexico. But one of the nicest getaways lays (as the song goes) 26 miles across the sea (from Long Beach, that is): Santa Catalina Island. This aerial shot was snapped on June 26, 1936 and takes in the town of Avalon snuggled into Avalon Bay. That circular building near the bottom is the Casino, which opened in 1929 at a cost of $2 million. It’s not a gambling house, however, but a ‘casino’ in the old-fashioned sense of the word, meaning a place where people have fun. In this case, that fun mostly took place is the huge Casino ballroom that still hosts many fun events.
This satellite photo from Google Earth shows us what the town, bay, and Casino looks like today.
What happened to the longer pier that was there in 36? I have never been there but have often heard about it. What is that tail looking thing shooting out from the casino on the newer photo?
I guess after a while two separate piers were no longer needed. As for the tail thing, we can see it in the vintage photo too, but I don’t know what purpose it served. It’s been quite a while since I’ve been there.
I believe that pier served for the big steamers which ran from San Pedro (with the Pacific Electric rail service down to there). Alas, no more red cars or long ships.
What happened to all the trees??
Wow, that’s beautiful.
Gordon
I wonder if that casino was a speakeasy in the prohibition days? Maybe one of Jack Dragna’s digs?
You’d think so, wouldn’t you? And maybe there was, but I’d expect the speakeasies were in less conspicuous locations.
John, you asked: “What is that tail looking thing shooting out from the casino on the newer photo?”
I went to Google Earth and looked at it from a different angle. It’s actually an optical illusion. On either side of the entrance area to the Casino are two rooms…the white areas…built out from the building. What looks like something that might be rising into the air is actually just the room area on the right, jutting out toward the road.
Oh is John referring to the breakwater jutting out from the point and into the bay?
Putting the Four Freshmen song at the opening sequence for Bad Times at the El Royale was a really nice touch for the film makers. Just perfect for taking you back to the last days of big screen crime dramas in order to pick up the story from that point and slap you in the face with a shotgun blast at the doorway to hell.