What are the Islands main industries?
Tourism and quarrying are the Island’s main industries. In the 1930s, Catalina Island also had a pottery factory and a furniture factory. In the 1860s and the 1920s, a small mining industry briefly existed on the island. Miners discovered silver in 1864, but when the Army occupied the island that same year, all but a few miners with substantial claims were forced to leave. In the 1920s, William Wrigley, Jr., by then owner of the island, opened several mines which produced lead, zinc, and silver. The mines were closed when the price of silver dropped. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, ranchers raised sheep and cattle on the Island. The first ranch was established in 1846, but ranching died out in the 1950s when it was no longer profitable.
