08/16/2026
💚 Nicholas Finzer - a name I recently came across when I dove deep into the history of the Douglass Hills spring house. However, it wasn't a name that rang any bells for me, so I didn't dig into his history. I posted that he was the second owner of the Douglass Hills property and left it at that.
💛 A follower asked about Finzer's story because she knew there had been a Nicholas Finzer School in Louisville in the 1920s. Then, another follower - named Nick Finzer, a descendant - commented that Nicholas Finzer was one of the brothers of the J. Finzer & Brothers To***co Company AND his home on Hull Street in Louisville was still standing. I knew then that I needed to do research on owner #2.
🤎 In my first post, linked in the comments, you learned a little history of John Womack (owner #1) and Colonel J.J. Douglas (owner #3), and here is a little bit about Nicholas Finzer, owner #2.
💚 Nicholas Finzer (1848 - 1896) was born in Kappeln, Switzerland, to Benedict and Maria Weibel Finzer Sr. The Finzers and their eight children (5 sons and 3 daughters) came to America in 1853. They established their home in Louisville, where the Finzers' 9th child and 4th daughter was born.
💛 The Finzer Brothers (John, Benjamin, Frederick, Rudolph, and Nicholas) attended public schools in the area and worked in the to***co business. In 1866, the brothers established the J. Finzer & Bros. company and became proprietors of Five Brothers To***co Works. By the 1880s, Louisville's to***co market was one of the largest in the world.
🤎 When the oldest Finzer brother passed away, Nicholas took over the presidency of the company. Under his leadership, the company grew into one of the country's major plug to***co manufacturers, employing seven hundred workers. In 1900, the J. Finzer and Brothers Company had a a six and one-half story brick factory built at today's 419 Finzer Street. According to the National Register Nomination Form, the building functioned as a factory, storage, and distribution center, "with true heavy timber interior structure. Columns, beams, and floors are all heavy timber construction. The exterior brick walls are 18 inches thick at the first floor, with brick pilasters every 15 feet, located on the column lines." The building still stands today and was added to the National Register of Historic Places - NPS - in 2003.
💚 In addition to being the president of the to***co company, Nicholas Finzer was also the director of the German Insurance Bank, director of the Newsboys' Home, and the president of the Plug To***co Manufacturers' Association. On top of that, he served on the board of public schools. He was a major player in the establishment of night schools. He wanted his employees to have a chance to better themselves, so he made a donation to the Third Ward School, which allowed his workers to attend night school for free. (I'd say this was the reason a school was named for him in 1923. The school closed in 1966.)
💛 Nicholas seems to have had his home in the now Irish Hill neighborhood around 1869, as it appears in the City Directory in 1870. His mother and brother lived in the home with him until his marriage to Agnes Eugenia in 1872. His home at 1212 Hull Street is also on the National Register. It is a two-story Renaissance Revival-style brick home. (From the roof, you can see the city and the river!) The highlight of this home is the decorative cast iron work on the porch and the cellar and attic grates. On the inside, walnut woodwork in classical style, cast iron mantels, and interior shutters can be found. Nicholas, Agnes, and their five children lived in the home until 1885.
🤎 It seems that's when Finzer purchased the 300-acre property in Middletown and ran a stock farm. (According to Finzer's obituary, he was also the chief owner of Passtime Stables.) He lived on the estate until he died in 1896. He was one of the wealthiest men in Louisville at the time. His estate was said to be worth $500,000 at the time of his death.
💚 So, there you have it, my history-lovin' followers. You now know the history behind the three owners of the property that eventually became the Douglass Hills neighborhood, and all this research came from a photo of a spring house. THIS is the reason our historic structures must continue to stand! Without that spring house, I would never have followed this history trail, and these stories would vanish over time. Historic preservation is key! Let's hope some type of action is taken to save the spring house at Douglass Hills.
📷 property of Wikimedia Commons
📚 Text is intellectual property of Kentucky Historic Travels
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