HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
1929 Art Deco ballroom on Catalina Island — Big Band broadcasts, a woman in white, and a documented paranormal tour
1 Casino Way, Avalon, CA 90704
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Haunting Tales tour pricing varies; see venue website. General casino tours also available.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved walkways and flat interior; the building is largely accessible.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1929 · Art Deco Architecture · Big Band Era National Broadcasts · World War II Military Facility · Largest Circular Ballroom in the World
William Wrigley Jr. purchased Santa Catalina Island in 1919 and spent the following decade building it into a destination resort. The Casino, designed by architects Sumner Spaulding and Walter Weber and completed in May 1929, was the centerpiece of that effort. The structure measures 12 stories at its highest point and sits on a promontory at the northern edge of Avalon Bay, visible from arriving ferries.
The ballroom on the eighth floor holds roughly 6,000 dancers and contains no interior columns — engineers at the time wrote that the self-supporting roof was one of the more ambitious concrete shell constructions attempted in the United States to that point. A separate 1,184-seat movie theater occupies the building's base, making the Casino the first venue on the West Coast built with a theater below a ballroom.
KSX radio, broadcasting from inside the building, carried live Big Band performances to coast-to-coast audiences beginning in 1932. Benny Goodman, Kay Kyser, and Harry James all broadcast from the Casino's ballroom. During World War II, the island served as a military facility; the Casino was used as a headquarters building and communications center, and civilian tourism essentially ceased for the duration.
Wrigley's heirs sold the island to a public nonprofit, the Santa Catalina Island Conservancy, in 1975. The Casino was designated a City of Avalon landmark in 2015. It continues to operate as a working ballroom and theater, hosting concerts, film screenings, and special events throughout the year.
Sources
The most consistently described report at the Catalina Casino centers on the mezzanine level of the ballroom — the curved corridor that rings the second floor above the dance floor. Multiple staff members over the years have described encountering a translucent woman in a white gown who addresses them directly, asks 'Where is my husband?' and then disappears before they can respond. No identity has been established for the figure; the accounts share the specific phrase and location more than any individual's biography.
Ghost Adventures filmed an investigation inside the Casino; the episode is the most widely circulated documentation of the building's paranormal reputation, though the investigation's methodology reflects the conventions of reality television more than controlled research.
The Santa Catalina Island Company — which operates the Casino on behalf of the Conservancy — markets a tour called 'Haunting Tales and Mysterious Melodies' that runs year-round and accesses the backstage corridors, catwalks, and mezzanine. The fact that the venue's own operator has built a standing paranormal tour around these accounts is a measure of how long the stories have circulated among island residents and staff.
The building's wartime use adds a layer of history that tours often note: during World War II, communications staff worked inside the Casino around the clock, and the island's civilian population was essentially replaced by military personnel. Whether that period produced additional accounts is not documented in the sources available.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
The island's official paranormal tour, run through the Santa Catalina Island Company, accesses the same backstage corridors, mezzanine, and theater spaces where staff and investigators have reported the translucent woman in white. The tour ties the reported hauntings to the Casino's history as a Depression-era entertainment hub and wartime communications center.
The Casino's grand ballroom, built in 1929, is the largest circular ballroom in the world. It operated without a single supporting interior pillar — a structural achievement engineers from the era described in detail. Visitors can walk the mezzanine and theater lobby without a tour, though backstage and tower access require a guided ticket.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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