{"nrhp_refnum":"78000647","name":"Toverii Tuppa","other_names":["Finnish Hall"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1819 10th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Berkeley","county":"Alameda County","state":"CA","lat":37.870270626000035,"lon":-122.29378258799994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-07-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["European","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Toverii Tuppa, also called Finnish Hall, is a three-story, barn-shaped wooden community hall at 1819 10th Street in West Berkeley, California, built in 1908-09 by the local Finnish community. Augast Trille is listed as architect.","why_significant":"The hall served as the social, cultural and political center of Berkeley's large Finnish immigrant community and was reportedly built entirely with volunteer labor. It hosted theater, dances, dinners and a chorus, fed strikers in 1934, and was attacked in a vigilante raid that year. Finnish cooperative activity linked to the community also helped the early Co-Op grocery chain.","narrative":"Finnish Hall, also known as Toverii Tuppa, is a white ship-lap building of fir and redwood at 1819 10th Street in West Berkeley. It rises three stories, about 57 feet, above the single-story houses around it. Inside are a large auditorium with a raked stage and dance floor, a club room, kitchen, dining room, sewing room and a caretaker's apartment. Berkeley's Finnish immigrants built it in 1908-09, reportedly with entirely volunteer labor: men did the construction while women raised money through domestic work, dinners and dances. The permit listed Augast Trille as architect, and the cost was $5,000. The hall hosted plays, concerts, dances, reading clubs and a chorus. In 1934 it fed striking dockworkers and was damaged in a vigilante raid. The Finns sold it in 1972 but kept rights to use it. A performing arts school now rents part of the building.","period_of_significance":"1900- (specific dates 1908-09 built)","architect_builder":"Augast Trille","architectural_style":"Bay Area folk style combining gothic cottage ornament with neo-classic symmetry","criteria":[],"status_note":"Rented in part to a non-profit performing arts school; Finnish community members retain rights to use the hall. Condition is marked excellent.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:32.157043-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/78000647.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123858355","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/alameda-county/toverii-tuppa-78000647/"}