The idea for a tile factory came from Mr. William Wrigley Jr. (the chewing gum magnate) who owned Catalina Island, and David Renton. The tile plant originally made the tiles from clay deposits on the island, eventually mixing the local clay with a more durable clay from the California mainland.

All of the decorative tiles were glazed individually by hand. A very time consuming process but it led to spectacular results that cannot be matched by today's methods of mass production.

The Catalina Island tile and pottery plant ceased to exist after the 1930's. Today, tile artist Richard Miller reproduces the vibrant Catalina Island tiles using the same hand applied glazing technique.