Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Garden – Avalon, California - Atlas Obscura
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Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Garden

Avalon, California

Chewing gum tycoon's memorial lies perched over wife's botanical gardens on Santa Catalina Island. 

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The Wrigley Memorial as seen from the gardens. (Photograph by Jeremias Paul)
The Wrigley Memorial as seen from the gardens. (Photograph by Jeremias Paul)
The intricate sculptural ornamentation on the memorial. (Photograph by Jeremias Paul)
Tiles from the Catalina Pottery plant adorn a fountain inside the memorial. (Photograph by Jeremias Paul)
copper doors Avoiding Regret
The walk up to the memorial, through the botanical garden Avoiding Regret
Stairs up to the Wrigley Memorial ryanalanbrown (Atlas Obscura User)
Looking East on top of the Wrigley Memorial ryanalanbrown (Atlas Obscura User)
Look for the Rare Wild Catalina Island Fox ryanalanbrown (Atlas Obscura User)
Look for the Rare Wild Catalina Island Fox ryanalanbrown (Atlas Obscura User)
Wrigley Memorial from the front Justin Ennis (Public Domain)
Wrigley on Catalina 2014 ccesare (Atlas Obscura User)
Wrigley Memorial on Catalina 2014 ccesare (Atlas Obscura User)
Wrigley Botanical on Catalina ccesare (Atlas Obscura User)
Wrigley Memorial on Catalina ccesare (Atlas Obscura User)
Wrigley Memorial on Catalina ccesare (Atlas Obscura User)
Wrigley Botanical Gardens Catalina 2014 ccesare (Atlas Obscura User)
Wrigley Memorial on Catalina 2014 ccesare (Atlas Obscura User)
Wrigley Memorial on Catalina 2014 ccesare (Atlas Obscura User)
Wrigley Botanical Gardens on Catalina ccesare (Atlas Obscura User)
Wrigley on Catalina 2014 ccesare (Atlas Obscura User)
Wrigley Memorial on Catalina 2014 ccesare (Atlas Obscura User)
This Drain Has A Tongue! victorialocke19631 (Atlas Obscura User)
Rain Drainage Thru Mouth victorialocke19631 (Atlas Obscura User)
Wrigley Memorial Amazingly MASONIC victorialocke19631 (Atlas Obscura User)
Seamless Concrete Poured In Place Using Molds victorialocke19631 (Atlas Obscura User)
gargoyle Avoiding Regret
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The Wrigley Memorial was built between 1933 and 1934 to commemorate chewing gum tycoon and Santa Catalina Island visionary William Wrigley Jr.. The memorial was built by the people of Santa Catalina to honor Wrigley for all his contributions to the island, such as new steamships, a hotel, a casino, and public utilities.

The memorial is built of mostly indigenous materials and is adorned with beautiful tiles made by the Catalina Pottery plant which closed in 1937. Inside the memorial lies the Georgian marble sarcophagus of William Wrigley Jr. and his wife Ada. Due to security issues during World War II, Wrigley’s body was moved and no longer rests there. Ada’s body was never buried in the tomb.

The memorial is surrounded by an amazing collection desert plants and Santa Catalina endemics, or plants found nowhere else in the world except for on the island.

Know Before You Go

1.5 miles up Avalon Canyon Road on Santa Catalina Island, CA.

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