Photos

Green Pleasure Pier - Under the ownership of the Banning brothers who formed the Santa Catalina Island Company in 1894, Avalon flourished as both a tourist resort and fisherman’s paradise.  By 1906, the beach was crowded with boat stands, launches, rowboats, people, racks of drying fish, and sea lions waiting for a handout!  In order to relieve the congestion, a pier was built running parallel to the beach, but a storm destroyed it in 1908.
In February 1909, the Freeholders Improvement Association of Avalon applied to the War Department to build a pleasure wharf, which the Santa Catalina Island Company would construct and maintain.  Permission was granted and the pier was completed in the same year.  In 1914, the pier was transferred to the City of Avalon.
For many years, it has been Avalon’s official weigh station for sport fishermen.  Seaplanes also landed at the end of the pier in the 1950s and 1960s.
Today, the Green Pleasure Pier is still a hub of activity.  It is home to the Catalina Island Chamber of Commerce’s Visitors Center, where you can get information seven days a week.  You can also find tours, water activities, dive centers, and some great places to eat on the 407-foot pier.   - from Catalina Chamber of Commerce

http://www.catalinachamber.com/visitor/history.asp