Adolph Sutro
Values Codes I – H – E – L – P
Adolph Sutro was born in 1830 in the German city of Aachen.
San Francisco & Its Surroundings
Adolph Sutro came to California in 1850, at the age of 20.
He went into the clothing business in Stockton with Bernhard Frankenheimer, a cousin.
Soon, Adolph Sutro returned to San Francisco where he opened a tobacco store and a second store that sold imported variety goods.
In 1859, Adolph Sutro developed a new refining process for silver ore, just as the huge mineral finds were being made in Nevada.
The heat and the flooding of the Comstock Lode mines in Virginia City, Nevada were major problems.
Sutro devised a plan to dig a long, four-mile tunnel that would drain both the mines and cool them.
Financing the tunnel was difficult, but with the help of private investors he succeeded in completing the project in 1879, after years of effort.
The Sutro Tunnel of Virginia City was a remarkable engineering feat.
Sutro received a fee for every ton of material removed from all the mines. Needless to say, he became a very rich man.
In addition, he owned the lands where the tunnel emptied the waters from the mines.
Sutro developed this area into a large farming area, and sold fresh food produce to the population of Virginia City.
Disposing of his tunnel stock before the mines started to slow down, Sutro moved back to San Francisco and developed Sutro Heights in the empty western end of the city.
In 1892, he built the Sutro Baths with six large indoor swimming pools and the vast Sutro Gardens – all for the enjoyment of the citizens of San Francisco.
In the mid-1890’s, he built a huge “new” Cliff House, which burned down in 1907.
Civic
Sutro collected over a quarter-million books and manuscripts, much of which is now housed in the Sutro Library, a branch of the California State Library System. A large portion was lost in a fire.
The Cliff House burns down, 1907, vintage postcard
Sutro gave twenty-six acres of land to the University of California for a medical school and hospital.
At one time, Adolph Sutro owned one-twelfth of all land in San Francisco.
At the end of 1894, Sutro ran for Mayor of San Francisco, and was readily elected.
He took office at the beginning of 1895, and served for two years. He stepped down before the end of his term because he could not stand “politics.”
Sutro Baths, San Francisco, vintage postcard
Family
In 185, Adolph Sutro married Leah Harris.
They had 7 children.
Adolph Sutro died August 8, 1898.
Leah Harris Sutro
Palm Avenue, Sutro Heights, 1890’s — Adolph Sutro’s gift to San Francisco, vintage postcard
Ocean Blvd. Near the Cliff House, Sutro Heights, 1890’s, vintage postcard
Source
- Norton B. Stern, “Adolph Sutro,” Western States Jewish History 41/2.
