The Tunnel
The Sutro Tunnel is a drainage tunnel connected to the Comstock Lode in Northern Nevada. It begins at Dayton, Nevada, and connects 3.88 miles (6.24 km) Northwest to the Savage mine in Virginia City, Nevada. The Sutro Tunnel pioneered the excavation of large drainage and access tunnels in the US. Later US mine drainage tunnels included the Argo Tunnel at Idaho Springs, Colorado, the Leadville and Yak tunnels at Leadville, Colorado, and the Roosevelt tunnel in the Cripple Creek district, Colorado.
History
The tunnel was proposed by Adolph Sutro, a Prussian Jewish mining entrepreneur, in 1860. He promoted the drainage tunnel to allow access to deeper mineral exploration in the Comstock. Flooding and inadequate pumps had inhibited some exploration until that time.
By 1865, Sutro's idea had gained the approval of the state and US federal governments. The mining interests of the Comstock initially supported the project, but later opposed the idea. They feared that an alternate access point to the Comstock minerals would threaten their monopoly on the mining and milling of gold and silver in the Comstock.
Nonetheless, Sutro formed the Sutro Tunnel Company, selling stock certificates to raise funds for its construction, which began in 1869. Financing also came from local miners motivated by the prospect of improved mine safety. This motivation was further advocated by Sutro after the Yellowjacket mine disaster where dozens of miners were burned to death because they could not escape.
Arthur De Wint Foote worked on the tunnel in 1873, but was fired in 1874, having struck a flood of water in Shaft No. 2.
The main tunnel connected to the Savage Mine in 1878, the North and South branches were completed in 1879. Water was released from the mines on June 30 of 1879. Upon completion, Adolph Sutro sold his interest in the tunnel company. However, he stayed on as a board member and moved to San Francisco, later becoming mayor, building the Sutro Baths and much more. Adolph's brother Theodore Sutro then took over control of the Sutro Tunnel Company until 1894 when he then sold it to Franklin Leonard Sr.
The Town
Sutro, Nevada was founded by Adolph Sutro, an immigrant of Prussia, Germany. He came to the United States in 1850, and while in San Francisco he heard news about a gold rush in Washoe County. He left San Francisco to explore the region around the Comstock Lode, 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 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.
Friends of Sutro
The Friends of Sutro Tunnel organization is working to preserve this significant part of Nevada's mining history by restoring the Sutro Tunnel and 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 rebuilding the tunnel, ongoing site cleanup, and protecting remaining structures from further deterioration.
Information from Wikipedia.
The Cache
Please DO NOT venture past the gate at Ground Zero, unless you are taking a tour that is set up by The Friends of Sutro. If you would like to experience the town and tunnel of Sutro, please visit The Sutro Tunnel website and set up a guided tour of the town, tours are currently offered on the Third Wednesday and Saturday of each month during Spring to Late Summer. Tours are not available in the Fall and Winter. Otherwise, obey the posted signs on the gate at Ground Zero. A guided tour or donation are not required to log this virtual cache.
There are a couple of different ways you can log this cache:
1. In your log, include a photo (no faces required), of your hand holding a sign with your geocaching name and the date you logged the cache, at the plaque at Ground Zero.
2. In your log, include a photo (no faces required), of your hand holding a sign with your geocaching name and the date you logged the cache, at the Sutro Tunnel Entrance. This option is only available if you are on an approved guided tour.
If you have mulitple cachers in your group, you may add their name to your sign, but if there are 4 people in your group, I need 4 hands in the photo, one holding the sign (with all 4 geocaching names) and three pointing at the plaque or the Tunnel entrance. If these requirements are not met, I reserve the right to delete the logs associated with the names for this Virtual Cache log.
You do not need to wait for a reply from me to log the cache, I will only contact you if your log does not meet the requirements mentioned above.
Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.