Sutro Tunnel Company Shipping Document, Not dated

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Summary

Title:
Sutro Tunnel Company shipping document
Dates:
Not dated
Abstract:
This collection contains documents related to shipments to the Sutro Tunnel Company.
Extent:
.167 Linear Feet Single folder
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Sutro Tunnel Company Shipping Document, MS 326, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives, Sacramento, California.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains documents related to shipments to the Sutro Tunnel Company. The document lists a date for the month and day, but no year. Included are the car numbers and the numbers of pounds that the car carried.

Biographical / historical:

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.

From the University of Nevada, Reno, Sutro Tunnel Company Records, NC07

Processing information:

Formerly part of MS 100

Arrangement:

Single item

Physical location:
Statewide Museum Collections Center
Rules or conventions:
Cataloging Cultural Objects

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Library Archives staff
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-05-22 21:45:24 +0000 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research by appointment. Contact Library Staff

Terms of access:

Copyright has not been assigned to the California State Railroad Museum. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the CSRM Library & Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the CSRM as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Sutro Tunnel Company Shipping Document, MS 326, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives, Sacramento, California.

Location of this collection:
111 I Street
Sacramento, CA 95814, US
Contact:
(916) 323-8073
Library.CSRM@parks.ca.gov
Website