White's Landing, Santa Catalina Island
White’s Landing, Santa Catalina Island (White Cove) is located 3.5 miles west of Avalon on the leeward coast of the island. It was formerly known as Swayne’s [Swain's], after resident island hermit, Sven [Swain, Swayne] Larsen.
The 1940 census lists the following three as White’s Landing residents: Erving E. Rose, 28 (husband); Hillinm [?] Rose, 25 (wife); Arthur Turpin, 56.
Two yacht clubs have outposts at White's Cove, Balboa Bay Yacht Club and San Diego Yacht Club. They lease opposite ends of the cove. (The Newport Harbor Yacht Club leases a facility at nearby Moonstone Cove; the Corsair Yacht Club has a camp at Emerald Bay.) The Balboa Yacht Club has been a cove tenant since 1957. Members' boats are from Newport Beach, and the club uses the cove as a gathering place. Moorings are installed to secure boats, and ashore there is a picnic area, shaded open-air bar, grass volleyball court and bocce court. Some folks spend summers living aboard their vessel at the cove.
Whites Landing is also the island home for an educational nonprofit, The Catalina Experience (2015). In 2014, the island was hit by massive surf generated by Hurricane Marie, and the pier at Whites Landing suffered extreme damage. Working with various state agencies and Connelly Pacific, the Catalina Conservancy was able to remove the damaged pier and construct a new one in its place. It was completed in Summer of 2015.
"White's Valley" is named as early as April 10, 1867 on a Plat Map of Santa Catalina Island.
DROWNINGS AT WHITE'S LANDING
- WEBER, Gary (1963)
- McWHIRTER, Lawrence (1963)
» Glidden Dig at Swain’s Landing
WHITE'S LANDING and SWAIN'S CANYON: “The mouth of the canyon forms one of the finest beaches on the island. The wash here is broad and valley-like extending inland an unusual distance. It may be said that there is no main canyon, as it resembles a meadow with canyons radiating from it around an arc of nearly 180 degrees. On this great wash deposit grow many interesting shrubs, especially the uncommon Malvastrum and Solanium wallacei 12 feet high. The first canyon to the left parallels the shore, running up toward Mt. Banning; the second to the left and the left branch of the third also run up to the Mt. Banning watershed, the main bed of Swain's Canyon is easily reached by way of the ridge between these. From the right fork of the third left hand canyon to Black Jack there are several short and steep canyons generally ending in perpendicular cliffs, which sharply define the watershed between Swain's and Middle Ranch Canyons. Beyond Black Jack, and between it and the mountains, which constitute Long Point, the heights break away and the canyons on this side slope gradually until lost in the watershed between Swain's and Cottonwood Canyons. The longest right hand canyon, beyond the landing, parallels the shore in a northwestern direction extending up behind Long Point and draining the southern slopes of its mountains. It also constitutes the outlet of Echo Lake which nestles in a little cove against these mountains with its opening toward the south. There are small groves of trees scattered over this wide area including most of the common species, as well as several groups of Lyonothamnus. The upper reaches of the canyons are open and treeless except under the northern shoulder of Black Jack. The streambeds of the left hand branches are deep and well shaded but, at the time of our visit in July, were dry exhibiting no blooming plants of interest. The varied degrees of light and shade in these canyons should produce a great variety of early spring flowers. The floor of the main valley and the lower end of several of its lateral branches are filled with deep, rich soil supporting a heavy growth of grasses and shrubs. The absence of large trees is doubtless due to the fact that this was the site of an ancient Indian village.” [Millspaugh & Nuttall Flora of Santa Catalina Island (1923)].
White's Landing Exclosure was built in 2007 by the Santa Catalina Island Conservancy after a fire swept through 4,664 acres of the island's east end, east of the Isthmus. A 20-acre section of island was fenced to exclude browsing by introduced mule deer, to allow the islands native plant species to recover.
In the News~
July 30, 1886 [KEJI]: “My trip this summer to Santa Catalina Island… As we were walking along we came to White’s valley, which contains the biggest fig tree I ever saw. It is about two feet in diameter, and is used as an eating table in summer…”
July 25, 1901 [LAT]: “Summer and winter resorts. White’s Valley, Catalina Island: the boat beach, bathing, fishing and huting, the boat water and the only place on Catalina where vegetables are grown; tents, furnished or unfurnished; day board if desired; the steamer lands passengers at White’s Valley. N. Cronkhite, Avalon.”
August 4, 1901 [LAT/SCat]: “Avalon. Mr. and Mrs. F. T. Sutherland… chartered the Avalon yesterday for a picnic excursion to Long Point. They stopped at Moonstone Beach, paid a visit to the hermit at Swayne’s…”
August 23, 1901 [LAT/SCat]: “Judge S. W. Purcell of the Probate Court of Pima County and Edward Vail, a cattleman, also of Tucson, who are taking their summer outing here, by way of diversion went goat shooting a few days ago, taking a boat up to White’s Landing and there getting horses from Frank Whittley’s sheep camp…”
October 17, 1901 [LAT/SCat]: “Manager Orr and A. M. Brown of San Francisco, who with his wife are spending some time at Hotel Metropole, went up to White’s Landing yesterday afternoon and in an hour and a half bagged twenty-three quail...”
November 21, 1901 [LAT]: “The Queen took a picnic party to the Isthmus yesterday… Accompanying the party as far as White’s Landing were four persons, who made the ascent of Mt. Black Jack, and were picked up on the return trip.”
August 14, 1903 [LAT]: “Catalina revisited by woman pioneer... Among the visitors to Catalina at present is one of the pioneers of the island, Mrs. S. A. Howland, the widow of Captain Howland, who, almost half a century ago, gave his name to the place now known as Howland’s Landing… There were six families on the island at that time… Those living here were located at what is now Johnson’s Landing, and which was then known as John Benz’s Landing; at Swayne’s, now known as White’s Landing; at the Isthmus; at Cherry Valley; and at Fourth of July Valley…”
July 20, 1904 [LAT/SCat]: “Avalon. To camp at White’s Landing. The Pasadena Y.M.C.A. boys are coming to Catalina again in augmented numbers… This year they will have more elbow room, the only resident in the canyon where they are established being the old island hermit, Swayne Larsen.”
July 22, 1904 [LAT/SCat]: “Avalon. F. M. Bell entertained with a watermelon party at White’s Landing yesterday, taking the guests up on his yacht Spread Eagle.”
July 27, 1904 [LAT/SCat]: “Avalon. The yacht Ramona carried a picnic crowd to the Isthmus and White’s Landing today.”
August 10, 1904 [LAT/SCat]: “Avalon. The senior section of the Pasadena Y.M.C.A. now occupies the camp established at White’s Landing some weeks since.”
June 15, 1915 [TI/Avalon]: “As guests of Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Brown, in Captain Alex Adargo’s launch Favourite, a jovial party landed at White’s Landing Friday evening.”
November 7, 1916 [TI/Avalon]: “On Friday, while trying to land on the beach at White’s, Mr. and Mrs. Carl I. Warnecke, of Oakland, capsized and sank their little launch, and were compelled to swim ashore. The launch was afterwards raised and towed into Avalon by a party of Japanese fishermen…”
August 7, 1917 [LAT]: “The first arrest under the new California anti-seining laws occurred Sunday morning, when the Fish and Game Commission’s sea patrol, Captain H. B. Nidever commanding, put into Avalon with three Japanese, apprehended for round-hauling bait off White’s Landing within the forbidden Catalina district No. 20 consecrated to anglers…”
March 12, 1918 [TI/Avalon]: “White’s Landing—four miles westerly from Avalon. The only purely sand beach about the island. The former home of the island hermit, Swayne Larsen, since 1862, living alone almost all the time, with only a few tame goats as his companions.”
April 9, [TI/Avalon]: “The launch A.B. of San Pedro landed a party of visitors at White’s Landing on Sunday.”
April 8, 1925 [TI/Avalon]: “The new road from White’s Landing to the silver mine at Black Jack was opened last week. General Manager D. M. Renton made the first trip from the mine to the beach and return in his Studebaker Special Six.”
January 10, 1926 [LAT]: “Avalon… At White’s Landing, where William Wrigley, Jr., owner of Catalina Island, has engaged John Duncan Dunn to lay out a new golf course, 267 skeletons were removed and taken to the museum of the Heye Foundation of the American Indian of New York.”
June 19, 1941 [San Pedro News Pilot]: “Family camp facilities arranged by Y.M.C.A. Summer camping facilities for entire families have been secured at Camp Orizaba on Catalina Island, it was announced by the Y.M.C.A. today. Ordinarily camping is considered as a vacation privilege only for boys and girls and as too extravagant for the family as a whole. However, arrangements have been made whereby families or married couples can take advantage of this opportunity at a minimum expense. Recreation and entertainment activities are an organized part of the camp program. Dates for the camp period are June 28 to July 6. Further details are obtainable at the "Y."”
April 24, 1961 [LAT]: “$65 million sought for county projects… Among the more unusual requests is one for funds to study points where ‘harbors of refuge’ could be established for small craft. The sums sought are not for purchase or construction, but merely for feasibility studies… At Santa Catalina Island they would be: Isthmus Cove, $30,000; Johnson’s Landing, $10,000; Parson’s Landing, $4000; West Coast Harbor, $30,000, and White’s Cove, $20,000…”
November 3, 2015 [eCatalina.com]: “AVALON, CATALINA ISLAND - The Catalina Island Conservancy recently completed the reconstruction of White’s Landing Pier, which was essentially destroyed by the storm surge and high surf caused by Hurricane Marie as it churned in the waters off the coast of Baja in August 2014. The hurricane-driven storm surge and high surf caused extensive damage in Avalon Bay and on the mainland as well. It swept away most of White’s Landing Pier, eliminating the main access point for campers at The Catalina Experience and members of the Balboa Yacht Club and the San Diego Yacht Club. Replacing the 1950s-era wooden pier on the Island’s north-facing shore cost about $1.8 million and required extensive permitting, shipping supplies from the mainland and transporting workers and staff to the site. The new pier is 288 feet in length, and it has an 80-foot gangway. “Rebuilding the pier was an important project for the camp and boaters who enjoy the access it provides to one of the Island’s most expansive sandy beaches,” said Ann M. Muscat, PhD, Conservancy president and CEO. “We thank the yacht clubs and the camp for their patience. We also thank the hard-working construction crews, contractors and Conservancy staff for completing this complicated project barely a year after the pier was destroyed.” The pier reconstruction is part of the ongoing work the Conservancy performs to maintain and operate 220 miles of roads, 150 miles of hiking opportunities within its road and trail system, the Wrigley Memorial & Botanic Garden, two nature centers, the Conservancy’s headquarters building in Avalon, numerous vehicles, the Airport in the Sky and many other facilities across the 42,000 acres it stewards on Catalina Island. Rebuilding White’s Landing Pier required a team of Conservancy staff and contractors, including Erin Kennedy of T.C. Collins & Associates, Inc., who was the project manager; Lenny Altherr, the Conservancy's director of capital projects, who was the project construction manager; Tony Budrovich, the Conservancy's chief operating officer; the Conservancy Board of Directors, which made the financing possible; URS, which quickly developed the engineering specifications and drawings; Connelly-Pacific Co., which mobilized the significant equipment and crew needed to construct the pier itself; Jordahl Construction, Inc.; Fine Line Construction, and CORElectric. Jared Ficker of California Strategies LLC helped navigate the complicated permitting process.”
