FRIENDS OF EDGEWOOD NATURAL PRESERVE
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FRIENDS OF EDGEWOOD NATURAL PRESERVE
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PROMINENT CITIZENS LIVED AT EDGEWOOD This is the third in a series of articles about the early days of Edgewood. They are adapted by Kathy Korbholz from Nita Spangler’s research. In January of 1908, Henry C. Finkler and his wife bought what was to become Edgewood Natural Preserve from an interim owner, Dr. Miles Taylor. Like the Isaacs before them, they continued to make improvements by adding outbuildings, a barn, and landscaping. For a time Finkler tried hog farming and later turned to a small herd of goats which may have contributed to overgrazing the property. A later resident credits Finkler with stockpiling the rocks used in retaining walls around the Day Camp picnic area. [Please see endnotes.]
In his early years Finkler was active in outdoor sports and took up competitive high wheel bicycle riding. He became the state champion in both long and short distances. Even in later years he never relinquished his love for the wheel and was often seen biking over the local roads. Because of his riding on Sundays, Finkler claimed to be "best on Mondays." Finkler became secretary to the State Supreme Court when he succeeded his father’s decade in that position in 1878; he was nineteen years old. He held the office for over fifty years. One local history book states, "The position is one of large responsibility, but its duties have been performed by Mr. Finkler in a manner that has won for him the commendation and admiration of all who have been in any way connected with the supreme court, while his uniform courtesy and willingness have gained for him a well merited popularity." By his meticulous record keeping, he also served the justices as their statistician and historian. Finkler was very public-spirited and was instrumental in getting improvement to his district. He lobbied to get the state highway moved from the east side of the railroad tracks, beginning at Beresford to the west side at Five Points, (now the intersection of El Camino Real and Woodside) then the southern limit of Redwood City, thereby eliminating two dangerous grade crossings. He was also active in rerouting the Hetch Hetchy water supply through the Pulgas tunnel with pipeline instead of the original long three mile tunnel beginning at the south side of Redwood City. For years Finkler had a deep interest in the climatic conditions of Redwood City. According to his statistics, there were three locations in the world with perfect climatic conditions: (1) the Canary Islands; (2) the northern part of Africa; and (3) a radius of twenty miles around Redwood City. He submitted his report to a bicycling friend, Franklin Kane, then in the President’s cabinet as Secretary of the Interior. Kane passed on the information to the war department which selected Camp Fremont as a base for a training camp in 1917 at Menlo Park. Finkler held the local climate in such high regard that he encouraged the County Board of Supervisors to grant what is now the Pulgas Ridge Mid Peninsula Regional Open Space property, as an ideal site for the San Francisco Tubercular Preventorium Hospital buildings. His weather records were used to support a prize winning slogan in a Chamber of Commerce promotion which declared Redwood City to have "Climate Best by Government Test." This slogan is still in use today.
She was a founding member of the Redwood City Women’s Club and served as its President in 1915. For one year she served as auditor of the northern district of California Federation of Woman’s Clubs and rendered particularly effective service as a member of the national committee on child labor. She was a member of the George C. Evans Relief Corps, the Red Cross Society and a life member of the Woman’s Building Association of San Francisco. She also was active in the State Republican Party where she served as a member of the state central committee from 1916-1918. She initiated the idea of holding an annual floral parade in Redwood City and was chairwoman of the parade committee for several years. Mr. and Mrs. Finkler took great pleasure in entertaining their friends. Their home, described as beautiful, on 200 acres in the scenic foothills of Redwood City, was the setting of many happy gatherings. At her death, one of the local papers is quoted as saying, "Mrs. Finkler always proved herself a charming hostess." The Finklers were significant members of Redwood City’s high society. They never had children. The Finklers were preparing advertising materials for the subdivision and sale of their property in September of 1927 when Mrs. Finkler became ill and died. She had been in frail health for several years. He was still so despondent three years later he committed suicide by shooting himself through the heart. On the day of his death, Finkler summoned a close friend, John E. Layng of Layng and Tinney Undertaking Company, to come to his home. Fearing that the man was slightly deranged and might be dangerous, Layng asked a local business man, Walter Hilton to accompany him. When the two arrived at the house, Finkler seemed quite normal and showed them around the main house; he had been living in a small rental unit since Mrs. Finkler’s death. He showed them where he kept his papers and valuables in case of his death. All three men left the house together and were talking outside near the rear. Layng was talking to William Bement, the hired hand and Hilton was talking to Finkler. Then Finkler turned, walked away and started up a narrow canyon toward the spring which fed the house. A short distance from the others, Finkler drew a revolver and fired a bullet into his heart. His death was instantaneous. 3/29/01. Trish Taylor, whose grandfather, Benjamin Grant Taylor, was one of two people who were bequeathed Finkler's property, was raised in the large main house that was situated on the site of the current public restrooms at Edgewood. She states that it was her father, Francis M. Taylor, and not Finkler, who painstakingly gathered the rocks used to build the 3-sided retaining wall around the picnic area. The wall was used to contain a vegetable garden. |
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The hillside land around
what is now Edgewood Road was as unstable in Finkler’s time as now; it was the cause
of frequent repairs and detours. In the early 1900’s, one wash out was so severe,
locals called on the county to relocate the road. In 1907 a new highway was dedicated
moving the road from the south side to the north side of Cordilleras Creek. In the summer
of 1917, when a heavy wooden bridge over the creek linking Finkler and his neighbors to
the new county road collapsed, Henry prevailed upon the County road department to build a
concrete bridge. Finkler argued that a parcel of land, dedicated by the heirs of the J. C.
Johnson estate for the new road, made the bridge a county responsibility. Superior Court
Judge George Buck was among those who visited the site and declared the bridge part of the
West Union highway. That bridge is still used as the entrance into the Old Stage Day Camp
and appears on county maps as "Finkler’s Bridge."
Henry Finkler married
Miss Aileen Jane Brophy, a native of Salem Oregon, in 1885. They shared a strong interest
in civic affairs and were well known throughout Redwood City. "Mrs. Finkler, though
always devoted to home interests, found opportunity and inclination to extend her field of
usefulness into the world around her and was long an active and energetic leader in
community life. She was prominent in club affairs, being a gifted and inspirational
speaker, and was a potent factor in political circles in her section of the state."