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 from San Francisco and elsewhere moved to Berkeley , where a Finnish community had been established already before the earthquake . A large part of the early Berkeley population was Finnish . The brick and wood frame of the St. Francis Lutheran Church building survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and then was used for several months as an infirmary . Following the earthquake , the same year , Finns founded the '' Lutheran Church of the Cross '' in Berkeley , at University Avenue , where the Lutheran congregation still operates today . In c. 1910 , a bathhouse called Finnila 's Finnish Baths began serving customers in the Castro District , at 9 Douglass Street . Its opening as an official business serving the general public took place in 1913 . In 1919 , the business moved to 4032 17th Street , a half block west from the busy Castro Street . In 1932 , the business moved again , now to 2284 Market Street . In 1986 , after having been stationed in the Castro District for over seven decades , the business moved the final time , now to 465 Taraval Street in the San Francisco 's Sunset District , where it continued as Finnila 's Health Club , serving women only . Despite public outcry and attempts to prevent the closing of the popular Finnila 's Market Street bathhouse , the old bathhouse building was demolished by Alfred Finnila soon after the farewell party held in the end of December 1985 . Today , the Finnila family owns the new '' Market & Noe Center '' building at the location of the old bathhouse , in the corner of Market and Noe Streets . From 1910 on , the Castro District of San Francisco and some of the surrounding areas was known by the term '' Little Scandinavia '' , because of the large number of the residents in the area originating from Finnish , Danish , Norwegian and Swedish ancestry
1906 San Francisco earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
Castro District, San Francisco