Vignette > Swiss Club Tell

In about 1919, leading members of various Swiss organizations in San Francisco decided to establish a Swiss clubhouse. They had been renting places for their activities: Swiss band practice, gymnastics, singing [yodeling?], dances, and Swiss theatre. They bought several lots under individual names “in the wild hills on Mt. Tamalpais, above the small village of Mill Valley.” They later formed the “Schweizer Verein Tell” and deeded all the lots to the club. The property is at what is now 551 Edgewood Ave., although Edgewood was only a trail at that time. They soon realized that carrying construction materials for a clubhouse up the steep hillside would be onerous. They built a track of 2×6 lumber, hauled an old stripped Dodge up to the top and wound a cable around its left rear wheel. They erected a small clubhouse. But the engineering and site preparation left something to be desired. During a bad storm in February 1925, the structure slid down the hill and was a total loss. They replaced it with a bigger clubhouse with a kitchen and sleeping facilities on a solid foundation. It was added onto many times. Swiss Club Tell was a swinging place until about 1980 when membership began to dwindle. It was sold in 1998.