History/Mill Valley Historical Society
In the early 1900s, Mill Valley’s most prolific developer was
J. Fred Schlingman.
Most of his subdivisions were between Edgewood Avenue and Cascade Canyon. It took him only 5 years.
He began developing property in 1905 and finished in 1910 when he moved to Southern California. He named Rose and Hazel Avenues after family members. He advertised Mill Valley Heights in the Renz Road area as having magnificent redwoods, excellent views and sunshine all day.
By 1907, residents of Mill Valley Heights were so numerous that a bus line was established for their convenience.
Woodside Terrace, 61 lots, was advertised as just 500 feet from Park Station with glorious views of San Francisco Bay and Mt. Tamalpais.
Millwood Heights, 124 lots, above Birch Street was called a panoramic plateau with an unsurpassed climate neither sultry nor foggy. The Millside Terrace subdivision in the Millside Lane area opened in 1908 and 26 lots were sold immediately.
In 1907, the J. Fred Schlingman Company began the distribution of twenty thousand artistic folders designed to advertise the beauties of Mill Valley and its desirability as a place to live. The folders were distributed locally and in other parts of California. While in Mill Valley, he also owned the Mill Valley Record, a descendant of this newspaper.
(You can find previous Mill Valley history articles at MarinLocalNews.com.)
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