Sutro Tunnel a big draw

About 600 visitors explored the site where Adolf Sutro envisioned a bustling city. But his dreams vanished as gold and silver in the Comstock Lode played out.

The former mining town is known for a 3.8-mile tunnel that transported miners and ore from shafts in Virginia City to Sutro, a mile north of Dayton.

"I have an interest in the Sutro Tunnel because of the heritage. I like to have a foothold on the past because it gives me direction to the future," said Carson City resident Fred Goni during a bus ride to the Sutro townsite on Saturday.

"There are some locals from Carson or Reno who have read about Sutro but have never been out here," said Mark Preiss, director of the Fourth Ward School Museum. "It's a way for us to expand our scope and bring people to a place that people don't usually have access to."

Sutro is owned by Pete Leonard, president of the Sutro Tunnel Co., whose family became the largest stockholders of the tunnel in the late 1800s when Sutro decided his endeavor was no longer lucrative.

Leonard, a member of the board of directors at the Fourth Ward School, opened up his property for the event, which was a fund-raiser for the museum.

Visitors got a peek at the few buildings still standing and hiked up a hill to the site of Sutro's former mansion, where parts of the foundation remain.

"The tunnel is caving in fast. It's just really neat that you're here because 10 to 15 years ago it looked this way," said tour guide Becky Purkey, holding up a photocopied picture of the Sutro Tunnel before it collapsed about five years ago.

"This is such a treat. This is just amazing that they're letting the public do this," said Danielle Durkee of Reno. "I think people in this state are really interested in this state's history."

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