Sutro, Nevada is a

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

in Lyon County,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, near where the

Sutro Tunnel The Sutro Tunnel is a drainage tunnel (adit) connected to the Comstock Lode in Northern Nevada. It begins at Dayton, Nevada and connects Northwest to the Savage mine in Virginia City, Nevada. The tunnel was proposed by Adolph Sutro, a Prussian J ...

is located.

History

Sutro was founded by

Adolph Sutro Adolph Heinrich Joseph Sutro (April 29, 1830 – August 8, 1898) was a German-American engineer, politician and philanthropist who served as the 24th mayor of San Francisco from 1895 until 1897. Born a German Jew, he moved to Virginia Cit ...

, an immigrant of

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He came to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1850, and while in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

he heard news about a

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

in Washoe County. He left San Francisco to explore the region around the

Comstock Lode The Comstock Lode is a lode of silver ore located under the eastern slope of Mount Davidson, a peak in the Virginia Range in Virginia City, Nevada (then western Utah Territory), which was the first major discovery of silver ore in the United ...

, building a number of mills and ovens to recover the gold and silver from the ore. In 1860, he had a dream to build a massive tunnel to expand drainage and airflow to the Comstock Lode. After a fire on April 7, 1869 killed 45 miners due to suffocation, construction began on October 19, 1869, and the main tunnel was completed in 1878. During construction, the

company town A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...

of Sutro was created at the lower end of the tunnel. At one time, boasting a population of 600-800 people, a church, a weekly newspaper, and a post office that was in operation from March 1872 until October 1920. It is

Nevada Historical Marker Nevada historical markers identify significant places of interest in Nevada's history. The Historic Marker Program was initiated by the Nevada State Legislature in 1967 to bring the state's heritage to the public's attention with on-site markers. ...

number 85. The "Friends of Sutro Tunnel" are working to preserve this significant part of Nevada’s mining history by restoring the Sutro Tunnel Site. The goal of the project is to not only preserve the site's historical integrity, but to also make it safe and accessible for visitors. Phase One of the project is currently underway with the focus being on ongoing site cleanup and protecting remaining structures from further deterioration.

References

External links

Friends of Sutro Tunnel
Ghost towns in Lyon County, Nevada {{LyonCountyNV-geo-stub