Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Sutro, Adolph, 1830-1898
- Abstract:
- The Adolph Sutro Papers consists of correspondence, much of it relating to the Sutro Tunnel Company and to the Funding Bill; records of the Sutro Tunnel Company including cipher books; documents relating to property holdings in San Francisco, Alameda, San Mateo and Napa Counties; payrolls and reports for the Cliff House, Sutro Railroad, San Miguel Ranch, Sutro Baths, Sutro Library, and Sutro Heights; papers relating to Sutro's term as San Francisco Mayor; papers relating to Sutro's estate; and financial records.
- Extent:
- Number of containers: 23 boxes, 9 cartons, 1 oversize folder, and 1 tube Linear feet: 20.75
- Language:
- Collection materials are in English
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The Adolph Sutro Papers consists of correspondence, much of it relating to the Sutro Tunnel Company and to the Funding Bill; records of the Sutro Tunnel Company including cipher books; documents relating to property holdings in San Francisco, Alameda, San Mateo and Napa Counties; payrolls and reports for the Cliff House, Sutro Railroad, San Miguel Ranch, Sutro Baths, Sutro Library, and Sutro Heights; papers relating to Sutro's term as San Francisco Mayor; papers relating to Sutro's estate; and financial records.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Adolph Heinrich Joseph Sutro, originator of the Sutro Tunnel in Nevada and well-known figure in San Francisco, born of Jewish parents in 1830 at Aix-la-Chapelle in Germany, left school at sixteen, but continued his education by reading voraciously. From his father, a cloth manufacturer, Sutro learned factory management. After his father's death in 1847, with business ruined by the Prussian war, his mother, having to raise seven sons and four daughters, decided to emigrate to the United States in 1850.
Adolph Sutro soon left for California via Panama, the rest of the family remaining in Baltimore. Sutro became a merchant in San Francisco and Stockton from 1851 to 1859. In 1855 he married Leah Harris, and from this marriage were born six children, four girls and two boys. As early as 1860, Sutro visited Nevada, learned to amalgamate tailings and created stamp mills in Carson and Virginia City. Here he planned his famous Tunnel, to drain and ventilate mines in the Comstock Lode, hoping to reach lucrative financial agreements with mining companies who would thus be benefited, hoping also to strike a rich vein himself while digging the tunnel. He eventually succeeded in obtaining financial backing in this country and in Europe, got a charter from Nevada in 1865 and an authorization from Congress in 1866. A company, known as the Sutro Tunnel Company, was formed, stock sold, and work started in October 1869.
Until 1880 Sutro fought many legislative battles in Washington, D.C., against the Bank Ring and the Bonanza owners, traveled to New York and Europe incessantly to consult with engineers and capitalists, and at times stayed in his mansion in the town of Sutro to supervise the tunnel work. Although the tunnel reached the Comstock Lode in 1879, Sutro, weary of the constant hassles within the Company, sold his interests, investing the proceeds in real estate in San Francisco. He occupied the decade 1880 to 1890 with a trip around the world, a sojourn in Europe, one in Mexico, the organization of the Cliff House and Sutro Heights, tree planting, and the collection of rare books. In 1892 he constructed the Sutro Baths. In 1894 he was elected Mayor of San Francisco on the Populist Party ticket. The last year of his life his health declined greatly. He died in 1898.
- Acquisition information:
- The Adolph Sutro Papers were assembled from various sources by The Bancroft Library. Items purchased in 1939, have been stamped "Bancroft Library, Sutro, June 1939". Letterbooks, code books, and receipt books were purchased from Wreden. A scrapbook was purchased from the Plath sale in 1959. Letters and documents removed from another scrapbook were purchased from Albert Dressler in 1939. Some items relating to the Funding Bill came from the Lyman Library. Other items were purchased from John Howell Books or transferred from the T.W. Norris collection. Wherever the source was known, it has been indicated on the material.
- Physical location:
- Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
- Rules or conventions:
- Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard
Access and use
- Location of this collection:
-
University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft LibraryBerkeley, CA 94720-6000, US
- Contact:
- 510-642-6481