Adolph Sutro: The Alchemist of San Francisco

Young Adolph heard something about gold in California. He booked passage on a sailing ship bound for San Francisco, the journey lasting several months and requiring an epic trip down the east coast of the Americas, around Cape Horn, and up the West Coast to the port of San Francisco. He put his enforced leisure time to good use, reading and writing letters to his family, describing the scenery and the flora and fauna he saw and the varying and interesting people he encountered, speaking always with compassion and understanding. He disembarked Nov. 31, 1851.

He was nearly broke. For several years, he survived by buying and selling small trade items, including cigars and tobacco. He married in 1856, apparently a happy union, and one that produced six children, four girls and two boys.

Then there was the discovery of silver in Nevada, the Comstock Lode. Sutro established a mill there for the reduction of ores. Realizing how dangerous the mining practices were, Sutro, using his engineering background, designed a plan for a huge tunnel that would solve the problems of ventilation and drainage. His next task was to convince others of the feasibility of the plan and to raise an enormous amount of money to fund the project. He did it, and the tunnel was completed in October of 1878. In 1880, he sold his share of the Sutro Tunnel for approximately $5 million, and returned to San Francisco.

With his new fortune (a million bucks back then was really worth something), Sutro set about investing the money. At a time when much of San Francisco was considered beach-front property, Sutro bought a lot of land that was thought to be worthless real estate. Sutro knew better. He knew how to turn sand dunes into gardens. He had made a fortune out of silver and now he could use the money to turn sand into "gold.” He bought so much sandy land that at one time he owned 10 percent to 12 percent of San Francisco. He hired men to cut into subterranean reservoirs for fresh water, brought in tons of top soil, planted millions of seedlings, some with the help of school children who were thrilled to be included in the beautification project. Children and the under-privileged were always in Sutro’s mind. During a particularly harsh winter in 1893, Sutro purchased a large quantity of tickets from the Salvation Army which he distributed to the neediest of the city and could be exchanged for food and shelter. He was generous in his land gifts also, donating 26 acres to the University of California, San Francisco. One of his daughters, Emma, later became a doctor, having attended medical school at this location.

Sutro built an estate for his family on the bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. He often hosted world-famous guests there. The gardens surrounding the house were magnificent, and he generously invited the public and the poor to come explore and enjoy the grounds. Mr. Sutro, the former tobacco merchant, asked only that the public visitors refrain from smoking.

Sutro spent a lifetime collecting books for his personal library, which eventually was considered one of the greatest collections of rare manuscripts in the United States. The 1906 earthquake and fire destroyed much of the collection. The remainder of the collection was given to the California State Library in 1913 and is located now at the Sutro Library in San Francisco.

In 1896, Sutro opened the famous Sutro Baths, not just for the elite, but for all of the public. There were several huge indoor swimming pools with in-coming and out-going water carefully engineered. The structure could accommodate thousands at a time, not just for swimming, but for entertainment of all kinds. More details of the Sutro Baths and the nearby Cliff House will be discussed in a future column.

Always a champion of the common people, Adolph Sutro stepped into politics as a populist candidate, ran against City Hall and the politically-connected Southern Pacific Railroad, and against all odds was elected mayor of San Francisco. He served only one two-year term. It wasn’t a good fit. He wondered at times just what he’d stepped into. He retired and spent the rest of his life in philanthropic endeavors. He died Aug. 8, 1898. His life could have been a Frank Capra movie: Longfellow Deeds meets Mr. Smith. He was described as a rare combination of strength and simplicity, a man of few words and of many accomplishments. Adolph Sutro’s story was the immigrant’s story, the names change and the countries of origin change. But it is always an intersection of the right time and the right place and, above all, the right person.

Oh, by the way, that Sutro TV Tower? In 1972, La Avenzada, one of Adolph Sutro’s homes, was razed and the Sutro television transmission tower was erected on that very spot, solid land, no sand.

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