Finnila's Finnish Baths

Castro District
Neighborhood of San Francisco
Castro Street and its namesake neighborhood, the Castro
Nickname:  The Castro. In the early 20th century: Little Scandinavia / Finn Town.
Government
• Board of Supervisors	Scott Wiener
• State Assembly	Tom Ammiano (D)
• State Senate	Mark Leno (D)
• U.S. House	Nancy Pelosi (D)
Area
• Total	1.71 km2 (0.662 sq mi)
• Land	1.71 km2 (0.662 sq mi)
Population  (2008)
• Total	12,503
• Density	7,290/km2 (18,890/sq mi)
ZIP Code	94110, 94114
Area code	415

Finnila's Finnish Baths - a.k.a. Finnila's - was a Finnish bathhouse and a health club in San Francisco, California in USA. It served the general public from the early 1910s to 2001. Over seven first decades of its existence, Finnila's was located in the Castro District of San Francisco.

Migration from Finland

In 1902, Matti Finnila (Finnish spelling: Finnilä) immigrated from Kalajoki, Finland to Los Angeles, California. He was sponsored by his brother, who owned a baking oven manufacturing business in Los Angeles. Matti's brother wrote a book called Moneyless Society. In Los Angeles, Matti Finnila attended classes to learn English and to learn the skill of bricklaying. In 1906, the San Francisco earthquake inspired Matti Finnila to move to San Francisco, to help rebuild the city.

In a Finnish gathering in San Francisco, Matti Finnila met Alexandra (Sandra) Lantta from Ullava, Finland. The couple married and settled to live in San Francisco's heavily Finnish-populated Castro District. Matti became a contractor in bricklaying work and in early 1910s opened a Finnish-style sauna club for public. The club became known as Finnila's Finnish Baths. From 1932 onward, the son of Matti and Alexandra Finnila, Alfred Finnila (born in 1913), took charge of Finnila's Finnish Baths, until the final shut-down of the business in 2001. The couples's daughter (born in 1916), Edna Finnila (later Jeffrey) became a part owner of the bathhouse on Market Street, and she - together with other family members - today remains a co-owner of the new Market & Noe Center building constructed in place of the old bathhouse.

Four locations of Finnila's in San Francisco

1. The first sauna of the Finnila family in San Francisco at 9 Douglas Street became a local attraction in the early 1910s. The sauna was built in the basement of the small wood-structured Victorian building, which the Finnilas owned and where they lived. At the start, the sauna was used mainly by the Finnila family, friends and neighbors. However, the word spread, and soon the Finnilas began accepting paying customers from the general public. Next, due to popular demand, the Finnila family decided to expand the bathhouse business and to move to a larger space and in more central location.

2. Finnila's opened a new bathhouse - Finnila's Finnish Baths - at 4032 17th Street in 1919, a half block west from the busy Castro Street. The Finnila family owned the entire 3-4 floor building, where the sauna facilities were built in the basement. There were two large traditional Finnish-style sauna-bathing rooms, one for women and another one for men. Both the women's and the men's sauna could accommodate about a dozen customers at a time. Throwing water on the hot rocks provided the hot steam for the baths. There were large shower and dressing rooms separately for the ladies and for the men. There were also separate women's and men's massage rooms, also in the basement of the building. At busy times, additional rooms from the upper floor were used to accommodate the massage customers.

3. The popularity of the Finnila's services prompted the Finnila family to expand the business even further. Next, Matti Finnila and his son Alfred Finnila designed and constructed a large new Finnila's Finnish Baths bathhouse building on the busy Market Street, in the corner of Noe Street. The new bathhouse at 2284 Market Street had large women's and men's public saunas, accessible from the lobby area, and smaller private saunas, accessible from labyrinth-style long hallways. There was also a large privates sauna - sauna No. 21 - , known as "family sauna". Every morning c. 6 am, natural gas fires were lit on burners on the hallways, each burner throwing a powerful flame into a pipeline which led underneath the hot rocks of a sauna. This design and method used for the heating of the saunas was unique.

In the mid-1980s, the popular Finnila's Market Street bathhouse provided employment to a total of c. 65 employees, most of whom worked part-time. About 40 of these people were masseuses and masseurs, who each worked anywhere between one to five work shifts per week. The bathhouse was open daily from 10 am to 11 pm (Sundays, 8 am to 2 pm), providing both day- and night-shifts for its employees.

Despite of public outcry and attempts to prevent the closing down of the popular Finnila's Market Street bathhouse, the old bathhouse building was demolished by the owners, soon after the farewell party held in the end of December, 1985. Today, the Finnila family still owns the newly-constructed Market & Noe Center building attached to Cafe Flore - which was built in place of the old bathhouse -, in the corner of Market and Noe Streets.

4. After having served customers for over seven decades in the San Francisco's Castro District, the fourth and - so far - final location of Finnila's, Finnila's Health Club, opened for the general public in 1986 at 645 Taraval Street in the San Francisco's Sunset District. Hereafter, Finnila's was open only for women. The services included sauna-bathing, massage, aerobics and other health-related services. In 2001, due to the old age of Alfred Finnila, Finnila's Health Club was shut down.

Alfred Finnila in construction of Golden Gate Bridge

Grand Opening of the Golden Gate Bridge

In 1932, the construction of the new Finnila's bathhouse on Market Street had been brought to conclusion. The bricklaying company of Matti Finnila had been in charge of laying a few hundred thousand bricks to the framework of the building. Alfred Finnila, Matti's son, had received much hands-on experience on how to bend medal and how to solve practical construction problems.

This experience came in handy, as in 1932,Alfred Finnila began civil engineering studies at University of California, Berkeley. To pay for his schooling and to add on his engineering skills, Alfred signed for a job as a time-keeper at the Golden Gate Bridge construction site. The building of the bridge began on January 5, 1933.

In 1937, the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge was brought to an end, and Alfred Finnila graduated from UC Berkeley the same year. During the bridge work, Alfred Finnila had been promoted from his job as a time-keeper to the rank of assistant civil engineer of California, and as the chief engineer at the bridge work he was put in charge of all the bridge's ironing work and half of its road work.

Among many of his accomplishments at the Golden Gate Bridge construction work, Alfred Finnila designed the world famous Bridge Round House diner which opened in 1938 at the southeastern end of Golden Gate Bridge, adjacent to the tourist plaza which was renovated in 2012. Bridge Round House became the all time busiest San Francisco Bay Area restaurant, before it was turned to an unofficial gift shop and a visitor center. Thereafter, Bridge Round House served for a long time as a starting point for countless San Francisco Bay Area tours. In 2012, a renovation work of Bridge Round House was completed and it was revealed as a suave Art Deco treat - a diner -, as Alfred Finnila had designed it. The gift shop was removed as a new, official gift shop has been included in the adjacent plaza renovations.

Aside from Joseph B. Strauss, the bridge's chief architect, Alfred Finnila can be credited as the single most important player in the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Following the brige work, Alfred Finnila established, owned and ran for several decades a geothermal drilling business, designed to explore for water and oil resources, mainly in the states of California and Nevada.

Finnila's in a novel by Svevanne Auerbach

Stevanne Auerbach
Stevanne Auerbach - a.k.a. Dr. Toy
Born	(1938-09-22) September 22, 1938 The Bronx, New York
Occupation	Author, child development specialist, educator, and toyologist
Nationality	United States

'The Contest' is a novel by Stevanne Auerbach, Ph.D. Among other things, the book discusses Finnila's Finnish Baths:.

Pages 159-160:

"Every Tuesday, Shelly brought Alison directly home after school and left her in Nora's care. When Molly came home from school she had homework to do. Then she played with Alison or they both watched TV. Shelly was then free for a few precious hours.

She drove over to pick up Melanie, and headed down the hill from Diamond Heights, to Marker Street, and into the parking lot of O'Reilly's Funeral Parlor near Noe Street. There was a special place next door, a place that gave them a special respite from work and stress.

They dashed into Finnila's Finnish Baths, where Shelly had discovered a special room just right for small groups. Shelly's circle of friends expanded and she decided to invite several other women friends to join them in the steam baths each Tuesday afternoon. The time together to steam and talk helped each of them cope better and feel more relaxed.

Finnila's was a funky, 75-year old place, with very thick gray concrete walls. It had originally been created by the owner's father, after he left Finland to settle in San Francisco. He brought with him the idea of a traditional sauna and created a unique, much-needed hideaway, a steamy oasis in the heart of the city. At the counter of the tiny lobby, you could purchase juice, water, or a cup of salt. You could also rent a locker and towels and arrange for a massage.

At one end of the hall was a women's public bath; at the other end, a public bath for men. The public baths had shelves, hooks, and lockers for dressing, a large shower room, and then the very hot steam bath. In individual rooms off the hall, one or two people could share a private sauna and shower, and a private dressing room. All of the seats in the saunas were tiled in white. The place was kept spotless, and to Shelly it was a treasured delight.

Shelly preferred room 21, the reserved group room. There inside this makeshift sanctuary she felt free to be with friends to talk, gossip and relax in a larger, more comfortable space. Three rooms were connected: a shower and steam, a resting room, and a dressing room. The time spent relaxing in this unique place helped Shelly to cope with all her challenges, especially when she was able to enjoy a massage.

Melanie soon felt like Shelly's new best friend. She had grown up in Modesto, an agricultural town two hours east of San Francisco. Melanie was bright, energetic ..." "... perky, pretty, and playful when she got to the sauna ..."

Page 163:

"On Tuesday night, after she returned home from Finnila's, Shelly felt more relaxed, refreshed, and better able to deal with whatever challenges or conflicts were going on. Each day ..."

Page 173:

"Every Tuesday she looked forward to a refreshing respite at Finnila's. Her friends listened and laughed as she shared what was happening as they showered and lay on sheets on the white tile benches and baked in the wet steam that filled the room of the sauna."

Little Scandinavia of San Francisco

At the time when Finnish Sea Captain Gustave Niebaum, the founder of Inglenook Winery (1879) in Rutherford, California, was busy conducting business in the San Francisco Bay Area and Alaska - from late 19th to early 20th century -, both places had considerably large Finnish settlements.

As the Governor in Russian America from 1858 to 1864, Finnish Johan Hampus Furuhjelm helped pave way for the American Alaska purchase, just like Gustave Niebaum did as the Consul of Russia in the United States in 1867 (at the time Finland was an autonomous Grand Duchy of Russia), when Alaska became a part of the United States of America. During his governorship, Johan Hampus Furuhjelm put an end to the hostilities with the natives in Alaska and he succeeded in abolishing the Alaskan Ice Treaty with San Francisco.

According to a contract which had been signed, Russian America had to deliver a certain amount of ice to San Francisco at a fixed price. The problem was that the product melted down on the way to the warmer climates. The ice contract became very awkward for the Russian colony. Furuhjelm arranged for a new contract to sell ice to San Francisco: 3'000 tons at $25.00 a ton.

The Russian-American Company had been established in 1802. Finns and Swedes and other Lutherans who had worked for the company had erected the Sitka Lutheran Church in Alaska in 1840. It was the very first Protestant church on the Pacific Coast.

Officially registered Finnish Club No. 1 was established in the Castro District of San Francisco in 1882. Soon after, two "Finnish Halls" were erected nearby. One was located at the corner of 24th Street and Hoffman Street. The other hall was located on Flint Street, on the "Rocky Hill" above Castro, an area densely Finnish-populated at the time - a Finn Town. Before the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, nearly all the kids attending the McKinley school (now McKinley Elementary School) at 1025 14th Street (at Castro) were Finnish. Following the earthquake, a large amount of Finns of San Francisco - and Finns from elsewhere alike - moved to Berkeley, where many Finns had settled already before. A big part of the early Berkeley population was Finnish.

This is the period when Finnila's Finnish Baths began serving customers in the Castro District of San Francisco, first starting in the early 1910s at 9 Douglas Street; then starting in 1919 at 4032 17th Street; then starting in 1932 at 2284 Market Street; finally in 1986 continuing as Finnila's Health Club on Taraval Street.

In 1906, St. Francis Lutheran Church St. Francis Lutheran Church was erected at 152 Church Street, between Market Street and Duboce Street. The construction work was completed by immigrants from the Nordic countries, where Lutheranism is the largest religious group. The project overseen primarily by Danes took place in the heart of what was then the Nordic-dominated Duboce-Market neighborhood of San Francisco. Facing the backside of St. Francis Lutheran Church, a small and light-colored Finnish church served Finnish-speaking church-goers on the one block long side street.

The 1943 novel Mama's Bank Account by Kathryn Forbes focused on a Norwegian family living in the area in the 1910s. Forbes' book served as the inspiration for John Van Druten's 1944 play I Remember Mama. The play was adapted to a Broadway theater production in 1944; to a movie in 1948; to a CBS Mama television series running from 1949 until 1957; to a Lux Radio Theater play in the late 1950s; and to a Broadway musical in 1979.

In the early 20th century - especially from c. 1910 to 1920s - the Castro District of San Francisco and some of the surrounding area was known as Little Scandinavia, because of the large number of people of Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, and Finnish ancestry who lived there.

The Cove on Castro used to be called The Norse Cove at the time. The Scandinavian Seamen's Mission operated for a long time on 15th Street, off Market Street, just around the corner from the Swedish-American Hall, which remains in the district. In 1920s - during the prohibition -, the downstairs of the Swedish-american Hall served as a speak-easy, one of many in the area. "Unlicensed saloons" were known as ‘speak-easies’, according to an 1889 newspaper. They were "so called because of the practice of speaking quietly about such a place in public, or when inside it, so as not to alert the police or neighbors."

Scandinavian-style "half-timber" construction can still be seen in some of the buildings along Market Street, between Castro and Church Streets. A restaurant called Scandinavian Deli operated for decades on Market Street, between Noe and Sanchez Streets, almost directly across the street from Finnila's.

Awards and recognition

Two times in row - in 1983 and in 1984 -, Finnila's Finnish Baths was granted the "The Best" award by the popular bi-weekly and free San Francisco Bay Area entertainment magazine San Francisco Bay Guardian. According to the paper, Finnila's provided the best sauna and massage deals in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Trivia

Dirty Harry
Theatrical release poster by Bill Gold
Directed by	Don Siegel
Screenplay by	Harry Julian Fink R.M. Fink Dean Riesner Uncredited: John Milius
Story by	Harry Julian Fink R.M. Fink
Produced by	Don Siegel Robert Daley (executive)
Starring	Clint Eastwood Andy Robinson Harry Guardino Reni Santoni John Vernon
Cinematography	Bruce Surtees
Edited by	Carl Pingitore
Music by	Lalo Schifrin
Production company	Malpaso Productions
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	December 23, 1971 (1971-12-23)
Running time	102 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$4 million
Box office	$35,976,000

Director Don Siegel filmed the final scenes of the 1971 movie Dirty Harry on the Larkspur Landing area owned by Alfred Finnila - owner of Finnila's Finnish Baths - as well as the adjacent East Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in Larkspur, California. After hijacking a school bus, the character of "Scorpio" - played by Andy Robinson - drives into East Sir Francis Drake Boulevard at the Greenbrae interchange, before crashing into the site of the Hutchinson Company quarry.

During the filming of Dirty Harry, the movie crew - including the actor Clint Eastwood - visited Finnila's Finnish Baths in San Francisco for sauna bathing and for massage.

External links

• Castro Biscuit - The Castro Area Happenings Blog.
• Castro District Guide - Things To Do, Reviews and News.
• Castro SF - The Complete Local Guide.
• Castro Guided photo tour of Castro.
• Finnila's-related exerts from the novel The Contest, by Stevanne Auerbach, Ph.D..
• Finnila's Finnish Baths on Facebook.
• Edna Jeffrey Biography - co-owner of Finnila's, author of the novel Till I'm with You Again.
• Bridge Round House, designed by Alfred Finnila, renovated and revealed as a suave Art Deco treat - SFGate.
• SaunaScape - A directory of public baths worldwide.
• Bridge Round House, designed by Alfred Finnila, renovated and revealed as a suave Art Deco treat - SFGate.
• Dirty Harry - filming locations. Poskanzer, Jef - access date 2013-04-27.
• FINALE – Hutchinson Co. Quarry, Larkspur Landing, CA « Dirty Harry Filming Locations.
• DIRTY HARRY ON LOCATION

See also

• Aræotic
• Balneotherapy
• Banya
• Bathtub
• Body treatment
• Contrast shower
• Finnish sauna
• Sauna
• Hot spring
• Hot tub
• Hydrotherapy
• Mud bath
• Onsen
• Public bathing
• Purification Rundown
• Spa
  • Day spa
  • Destination spa
  • Spa town
• Steambath
• Steam room
• Steam shower
• Sudatorium
• Sweat therapy
• Taiwanese hot springs
• Temazcal
• Thermae
• Thermal bath
• Turkish bath
• World Sauna Championships