Vignette > Elroy Garage

In 1900, the Filippi family emigrated from Italy to San Francisco.  Frank was 8 years old. In the 1920s Frank owned a garage in San Francisco with many employees causing lots of problems. He wanted to get a little garage off by itself with just one or two men working for him. In 1928 he moved to Mill Valley and established the Elroy Garage.  The property on the corner of Sycamore and Camino Alto was in the Elroy tract.  Mrs. Fern Handley had created a subdivision as part of the land she owned in the area.  She decided to name the tract after her two sons, Al and Roy, but Alroy didn’t sound right so she changed it to Elroy. Frank, his wife and their two sons Robert and Walter aged four and eight originally lived in an apartment for a while, but they soon moved to a house on the corner of Throckmorton and Elma. Frank was a thoroughly experienced man in his line and conducted an up-to-date repair shop as well as a garage and a service station selling Union 76 gasoline and oil. Frank retired in 1958 and turned the business over to his two sons.