Sutro Tunnel Restoration Project

10/14/2026

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧❗
𝟓 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥

We’re just days away from the big reveal, and there’s a story we’ve been waiting to tell.

Check back every day as we reveal a little more about the history, the people, and the incredible story behind Bringing Sutro Home.

The big reveal is coming October 19. Stay tuned!

10/14/2026

So Close You Could Hear Them Talk.

June 1878. After nearly nine years of blasting through solid rock, the Sutro Tunnel was finally within earshot of the Comstock. A Virginia City dispatch printed in the Daily Los Angeles Herald put it bluntly: the tunnel was now so near that miners in the Savage could hear the tunnel workmen talk. Connection, they said, would come before the Fourth of July.

Picture that for a second—two crews deep underground, separated by a thinning wall of rock, already shouting across history. Adolph Sutro's "impossible" drain was about to punch through to the lode that built Nevada's fortune.

That same dream—reopening the tunnel all the way toward Virginia City—is still alive in Dayton today.

Help keep the story going. Donate: https://thesutrotunnel.org/donate

Read the full 1878 dispatch: https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn85042459/1878-06-27/ed-1/?sp=2

10/12/2026

Meet the Iron Mule, the Sutro Tunnel's Least Stubborn New Worker

Most mules are stubborn. This one runs on batteries.

Simerson Construction has built the "Iron Mule," a prototype off-road side-dump truck designed specifically to haul debris out of the narrow Sutro Tunnel in Dayton. The tunnel is too tight to turn around in, so the driver's seat spins instead: drive in facing forward, swivel, and drive back out still looking ahead. It's built to haul up to 10,000 pounds (capacity still to be tested), and it runs on iron phosphate batteries, chosen because they're more stable than lithium if debris falls.

Simerson has already repaired about 315 feet of tunnel with wooden arches, with another 300 feet of steel to come. The Iron Mule goes to work when excavation resumes this spring, and every load it hauls out moves us closer to the dream of reopening the tunnel all the way to Virginia City.

Read the full story from the Nevada Appeal: https://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/2026/sep/18/simersons-iron-mule-to-take-on-heavy-lift-in-sutro/

Want to join the crew? Volunteer or become a docent: https://thesutrotunnel.org/volunteer

10/11/2026

The Flywheel That Went Off Like Artillery.

November 1876: Adolph Sutro is showing off Shaft No. 2 of his tunnel to U.S. Circuit Judge Sawyer and a pair of attorneys. (A judge and two lawyers walk into a mine shaft... no punchline, luckily.)

According to a Virginia City dispatch in Seattle's Daily Intelligencer, the group had barely stepped out of the shaft building that Sunday noon when the hoisting engine's flywheel burst, "making a report like that of artillery." Chunks weighing one hundred to one thousand pounds flew in every direction and through the roof, some landing on a hill to the west. The paper called it "a narrow escape from death."

The kicker? Repairs started right away, and the tunnel work was delayed just one day.

Read the full 1876 article at the Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83045610/1876-11-16/ed-1/?sp=2

Sutro's crew didn't quit, and neither will we. Come see where it all happened. Book a tour and help us reopen the Sutro Tunnel all the way to Virginia City: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/friendsofsutrotunnel

Friends of Sutro Tunnel Charity – We're working to preserve this significant part of Nevada’s mining history by restoring the Sutro Tunnel & Site in Dayton, ...

10/11/2026

We had a great time representing The Sutro Tunnel at the V&T Conference!

A big Sutro thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth to say hi.

10/08/2026

𝟏𝟏 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐀𝐝𝐨𝐥𝐩𝐡 𝐒𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞!

We’re getting closer to unveiling the incredible 9-foot bronze statue of Adolph Sutro, created by internationally renowned sculptor Sam Philipe.

Take a look at the artist behind this monumental project and the work that went into bringing Adolph Sutro home!

Join us Monday, October 19, from 10 AM–3 PM at the Sutro Tunnel in Dayton for the FREE public unveiling!

10/06/2026

𝟏𝟑 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐆𝐎!

𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟓𝟕 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐀𝐝𝐨𝐥𝐩𝐡 𝐒𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞.

On October 19, we’ll unveil a monumental new bronze statue of Sutro at the entrance to the tunnel that bears his name.

This is only the beginning of our countdown. Over the next 13 days, we’ll be sharing more about Sutro, the statue, and the story behind bringing him home.

𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟗 | 11 𝐀𝐌–𝟑 𝐏𝐌
𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜
𝐒𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐨 𝐓𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥, 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐭𝐨𝐧

10/02/2026

How can it not be. Great day with this good looking bunch! Thank you to the Yerington & Fernley Senior Centers a great group tour.

10/01/2026

From Jerusalem to Nevada! The Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation has commissioned a beautiful new statue of Adolph Sutro to stand in front of the historic Sutro Tunnel Restoration Project

09/29/2026

Big things are happening at Sutro…

On October 19, we’re celebrating the anniversary of the day work began on the Sutro Tunnel and this year, we have something very special to unveil.

Join us for a FREE day at Sutro, including self-guided tours from 10 AM–3 PM and the public reveal of our new Adolph Sutro statue.

Sutro is coming home.

October 19
Sutro Tunnel
2 Sutro Tunnel Rd, Dayton, Nevada

Come be part of it.