History
Located on Santa Catalina Island and is approximately six miles northwest of the town of Avalon. The airport was built by the Wrigley family of Chicago (who owned most of the island under the Santa Catalina Island Company) in the spring of 1941 in order to provide general and commercial aviation service to Santa Catalina Island. Prior to this, only seaplanes landed at Hamilton Cove Seaplane Base, just north of Avalon.
With the start of World War II, the island became an important training and air defense radar site and civilian air traffic ended in September 1942. The Army took control of the airport to support Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Maritime Service, and the Office of Strategic Services (OSS, predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency) activities on the island.
Administratively, the airfield operated as a sub-base of March Field located in Riverside.
The airfield is still an operating general aviation airport officially known as Catalina Airport. It is also known as the "Airport in the Sky" due to its elevation. It is currently owned by the Santa Catalina Conservancy
Source: World War II Sites in the United States: A Tour Guide and Directory by Richard E. Osbourne
Extract, US
Army Air Forces Airfield Dirctory, January 1945
