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Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Garden

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

Avalon, California

Added By
Jeremias
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)  
Wrigley Memorial on Catalina 2014   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
Wrigley Memorial on Catalina 2014   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
Wrigley Botanical Gardens Catalina 2014   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
Wrigley Memorial on Catalina   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
  MtnLady / Atlas Obscura User
  MtnLady / Atlas Obscura User
Seamless Concrete Poured In Place Using Molds   victorialocke19631 / Atlas Obscura User
Wrigley Memorial Amazingly MASONIC   victorialocke19631 / Atlas Obscura User
Wrigley Memorial on Catalina 2014   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
Wrigley on Catalina 2014   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
Wrigley Memorial on Catalina   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
Wrigley Botanical on Catalina   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
Wrigley Memorial on Catalina 2014   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
Wrigley on Catalina 2014   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
Wrigley Memorial from the front   Justin Ennis
  jondi letnap / Atlas Obscura User
  jondi letnap / 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
Looking East on top of the Wrigley Memorial   ryanalanbrown / Atlas Obscura User
Stairs up to the Wrigley Memorial   ryanalanbrown / Atlas Obscura User
The walk up to the memorial, through the botanical garden   Avoiding Regret
copper doors   Avoiding Regret
Rain Drainage Thru Mouth   victorialocke19631 / Atlas Obscura User
gargoyle   Avoiding Regret
This Drain Has A Tongue!   victorialocke19631 / Atlas Obscura User
Wrigley Botanical Gardens on Catalina   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
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About

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.

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Plants Memorials Botanical Gardens Gargoyles Statues

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

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Added By

Jeremias

Edited By

Rachel, Avoiding Regret, MagnumPI, ryanalanbrown...

Published

June 27, 2009

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