The Tuna Club of Avalon is a private members's club in
Avalon
Avalon () is an island featured in the Arthurian legend. It first appeared in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 ''Historia Regum Britanniae'' as a place of magic where King Arthur's sword Excalibur was made and later where Arthur was taken to recove ...
on
Santa Catalina Island in
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
.
History
The club was founded by
Charles Frederick Holder
Charles Frederick Holder (1851–1915) was an American naturalist, conservationist, and writer who produced over 40 books and thousands of articles. Known as a pioneer of big-game fishing, he founded and led the Tuna Club of Avalon, credite ...
(1851–1915) in 1898.
[Pete Thomas]
Pioneers on the angling front
''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'', December 09, 2003[Rich Roberts]
Looking for Big Fish? Join the Club : At Catalina's Tuna Club, They're Hooked on Tradition
''Los Angeles Times'', October 13, 1993[Catalina Museum]
/ref>
Early members included Zane Grey
Pearl Zane Grey (January 31, 1872 – October 23, 1939) was an American author and dentist. He is known for his popular adventure novels and stories associated with the Western genre in literature and the arts; he idealized the American frontier ...
, Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...
, Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...
, Stan Laurel
Stan Laurel ( ; born Arthur Stanley Jefferson; 16 June 1890 – 23 February 1965) was an English comic actor, director and writer who was in the comedy double act, duo Laurel and Hardy. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Hardy in 107 sh ...
, Hal Roach
Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr. Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director and screenwriter, ...
, Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American filmmaker and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of American cinema and the most co ...
, Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and ...
and George S. Patton
George Smith Patton Jr. (11 November 1885 – 21 December 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, then the Third Army in France and Germany after the Alli ...
.Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...
, then Governor of New York, author Henry Van Dyke (both elected in 1898), Henry Markham
Henry Harrison Markham (November 16, 1840October 9, 1923) was an American lawyer and Republican politician. He was the 18th governor of California (1891–1895), and represented California's 6th congressional district during the 49th United ...
(elected in 1899), ex-President Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, serving from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. He was the first U.S. president to serve nonconsecutive terms and the first Hist ...
(1899), Gifford Pinchot
Gifford Pinchot (August 11, 1865October 4, 1946) was an American forester and politician. He served as the fourth chief of the U.S. Division of Forestry, as the first head of the United States Forest Service, and as the 28th governor of Pennsyl ...
(1906) and Charles Hallock
Charles Hallock (March 13, 1834 – December 2, 1917) was an American author and publisher born in New York City to Gerard Hallock and Elizabeth Allen. On September 10, 1855 he married Amelia J. Wardell.
He studied at Yale, 1850–51, and A ...
(1907). Against widespread opinion and popular belief, the future prime minister Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
was ''not'' part of the membership. The club hosted Churchill once, for a unique visit in 1929. On that occasion the then Chancellor of the Exchequer
The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...
caught a 125-pound marlin
Marlins are fish from the family Istiophoridae, which includes between 9 and 11 species, depending on the taxonomic authority.
Name
The family's common name is thought to derive from their resemblance to a sailor's marlinspike.
Taxonomy
T ...
.[Catalina Island Museum]
Islander Museum benefit offers rare tours of legendary Tuna Club facilities
'' Catalina Islander'', August 29, 2014
The club was all-male for many years, but membership to women is now welcome.[Adrianne Goodman]
Avalon Takes Tuna Club's Word on Discrimination
''Los Angeles Times'', July 20, 1989
Beyond its listed clubhouse, it also leases waterfront facilities.[Adrianne Goodman]
''Los Angeles Times'', December 8, 1989
Clubhouse
The clubhouse is located at 100 St. Catherine Way in Avalon on Santa Catalina Island in California. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
since April 2, 1991. It is also listed as a California Historical Landmark
A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in the U.S. state of California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance.
Criteria
Historical significance is determined by meetin ...
.Chinatown
Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...
''. In the film, the Tuna Club was renamed the Albacore Club.
Bibliography
*
References
External links
*
{{commons category, Tuna Club of Avalon
Buildings and structures in the Channel Islands of California
Santa Catalina Island (California)
California Historical Landmarks
Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in California
Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles County, California
Buildings and structures completed in 1916
1916 establishments in California