Finley Block — Built 1877

Finley Block — Built 1877. . , Two of Lake City's earliest cabins were built near this location in August, 1874, by Enos Hotchkiss and John Bartholf. The men were part of a road building party which passed through the area while constructing the Saguache and San Juan Toll Road from Saguache, Colorado, to the upper Animas River Valley near Howardsville. , Their visit to the valley that year had historic importance to the region: in addition to building the town's first human habitations and staking the celebrated Hotchkiss Mine, later the Golden Fleece, at Lake San Cristobal, the men had the gruesome task of burying the five prospectors who had been murdered and partially cannibalized by Alferd Packer earlier in the year. , Another member of the road-building gang in 1874 was a young stone mason named Henry Finley who was to become Bartholf's son-in-law in 1876 when he married Bartholf's divorced daughter, Mrs. Kittie Wiseman. Finley was one of the early owners of the Hotchkiss Mine and in July, 1875, with Enos Hotchkiss and D.P. Church, started the town's first saw mill at Granite Falls on the Lake Fork River south of Lake City. So great was the demand for lumber that the mill was forced to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and even then it was unable to keep up with the requests for building material. , Henry Finley also held responsible positions in town and county government, including serving as the first President of the Lake City Town Company, a corporation which promoted the townsite and sold business and residential lots. The Hinsdale County Commissioners appointed Henry Finley, John Bartholf, Warren T. Ring, William C. Lewman and F. Newton Bogue as Lake City's first board of trustees on August 16, 1875. Finley succeeded Hinsdale County's first sheriff, James M. Swinney, in 1877. He left Lake City by 1885, later prospecting around Ouray, Colorado, before moving to California. Henry Finley reportedly died at Los Angeles, California, in 1907. , Henry Finley's Lake City business connections included dealings with the pioneer general merchandise firm of Schiffer and Co., owned by brothers Herman and Harry Schiffer. The firm had its start in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1865; by 1876, when Finley convinced the brothers to open a branch store in Lake City, Schiffer and Co. operated general merchandise stores in Elizabethtown, New Mexico, and Conejos and Del Norte, Colorado. Schiffers' Lake City store had the largest business in the region, supposedly having sales in excess of $200,000 during the year 1877. , Schiffer and Co. originally opened in a small frame building owned by Henry Finley on the corner of Gunnison Avenue and Third Street; so great was Schiffers' business, however, that in 1877 Herman Schiffer convinced Finley to construct this building, known as the "Stone Trade Palace," which was started in March, 1877, and completed by late July of the same year. Finley himself crafted the cut stone front on the building; its other features include a full basement, 13' between floor and ceiling, and walls 18" in thickness. Cost of the Finley Block was $8,225. , The SILVER WORLD newspaper had the following description of the Stone Trade Palace after Schiffer and Co. moved into the building in 1877:

It is no invidious mention to say it is not only the most handsome establishment in Lake City but in the entire southwest. The ground floor is occupied by the retail department; the north side of the room is devoted to staples and fancy groceries, tobacco, nails, supplies, etc; the south side to dry goods, fancy and dress goods, carpets, clothing, furnishing goods, hats, caps, boots and shoes. , The shelving, with counters and bins for groceries, and all the inside arrangements are first class. A partition cuts off about 25 feet from the rear of the room, making a separate department for oils, syrups, liquors and other barrelled goods, bacon and heavy supplies. The counting room and business office are at the rear of the room, and are conveniently arranged. The basement is plastered and floored, lighted by glass let into the sidewalk, giving a dry, large and airy room, in which is a heavy stock, duplicates of everything in the store.

Schiffer and Co. remained in the Stone Trade Palace until late 1880 when they vacated the building and moved to J.W. Brockett's brick block on Gunnison Avenue. They were immediately replaced by the hardware firm of Kraft and Mullin, comprised of J.W. Kraft and J.K. Mullin, which sold hardware, stoves, and mining supplies, together with metal work and tinsmithing. The hardware firm continued in the Finley Block until J.W. Kraft dissolved the business in 1887; others to occupy the premises were McIntyre and Brown, a grocery store from Pueblo, Colorado, in 1889-90; tinsmiths George Boyd and Byron Coffin who ran their business in the building intermittently in the 1890's; and Peter Albi, an Italian, who operated a saloon in the Finley Block at the turn of the century. Italian graffito dating from Albi's business may still be seen on a wall of the building. , In 1909 Silver Star Lodge No. 27, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, purchased the building for use as their lodge hall. Extensive remodeling took place, including installation of a new tin ceiling and construction of partitions for a reception room, anteroom, lodge hall, kitchen and storage areas. The main room, measuring 22' x 50', was illuminated by a large skylight. Silver Star Lodge continued to occupy the building until the late 1940's when it was disbanded. The structure was practically abandoned for years afterward. , The Finley Block was purchased by the Hinsdale County Historical Society for the Hinsdale County Museum in 1989. , [top left photo caption] Kraft and Mullin offered hardware in the Stone Trade Palace in the early 1880’s.