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The Sutro Tunnel is a drainage tunnel (adit) 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 Sutro Tunnel Company was organized by Adolph Sutro for the purpose of constructing a drainage tunnel under the Comstock Lode in Virginia City, Nevada. Sutro's initial associates in this enterprise were William M. Stewart, D. E. Avery, Louis Janin, Jr., and H. K. Mitchell. On February 4, 1865 the Nevada legislature granted the company an exclusive franchise to construct a drainage tunnel beginning in the foothills of the Carson River Valley in Lyon County, and terminating in the Comstock Lode of Virginia City. The Sutro Tunnel Company was also given a charter to sink mining shafts along the line as long as they did not infringe upon the rights of miners with previous claims. The U.S. Congress granted the Sutro Tunnel Company an exclusive charter on July 25, 1866. The charter gave Sutro the right to purchase public land at $1.25 per acre to use for construction of the tunnel, and $5.00 per acre for land within 2,000 feet of the tunnel which contained mineral veins and lodes. It also specified that all persons, companies or corporations owning claims benefitted by the tunnel would be required to contribute to the costs of its operation. Sutro encountered considerable difficulty in raising the capital necessary for construction. The sale of stock in the Sutro Tunnel Company enabled construction to begin in 1869 but he was eventually forced to turn to England where, beginning in 1872, he obtained major financing from the banking house of McCalmont Brothers and Company. The tunnel connected with the Savage Mine in 1878. Contracts which helped pay for lateral tunnels were signed with twenty-four mining companies in April of the following year. Two months later the tunnel project was completed, and by 1880, Sutro had sold his stock in the company. The tunnel was in use for fifty years and was a success as a means of draining hot water from the mines. Financially it was a loss, as stock became worthless with the decline of Comstock Lode. Portions of the tunnel are still intact today. Ready to get to know the Comstock Lode one step-beneath-the-surface at a time? Situated in the historic town of Dayton, the 1870s-built Sutro Tunnel was a major player in Virginia City's silver bonanza, connected to the world-renowned Savage Mine. Proposed by the one and only Adolph Sutro (who later spent his Comstock billions on San Francisco's Sutro Baths and Cliff House) as a way of improving safety conditions for miners in an otherwise very dangerous era, the Sutro Tunnel begins in Virginia City, stretching nearly five miles through the mountains and reaching its terminus in Dayton. Miraculously enough, the Sutro Tunnel has withstood the tests of time despite being closed all those years ago, with a restoration project in full swing. Restoration is the name of the game at the Historic Sutro Tunnel-an underground pipeline connected to the largest silver strike in the world. Now nearly 150 years later, get in on recently reopened private tours, special events, and restoration efforts at this authentic piece of Comstock history. Sutro Tunnel History Proposed by Prussian Jewish mining entrepreneur Adolph Sutro as a way to prevent flooding and mine deeper within Nevada's high desert terrain, the concept didn’t fully take off until the deadly Yellowjacket Mine disaster occurred in Gold Hill in 1869. Even though Sutro had been fundraising for a more efficient drainage tunnel for nearly a decade, the Yellowjacket tragedy where dozens of miners burned to death below ground because they could not escape - beckoned the interest of miners as an additional exit. 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