These photos show Mark Twain’s office building on the left in the first shot and the International Hotel at the end of C street in the second They both were destroyed in the October 26, 1875 fire which burned for nine hours and consumed over 2,000 structures.
Sutro Tunnel
The huge Comstock Lode mining district needed to drain water, and Adopho Sutro stepped in to solve the problem. Construction of the Sutro Tunnel began in 1869 but was not completed until 1878. Sutro then sold out and moved to San Francisco and became mayor. The first photo was taken in the late 1880s.
Bowers Mansion
Many millionaires were created during Virginia’s heyday and they built opulent homes to show off their new wealth The Bowers Mansion, built in 1863, was one. The photo is dated in the 1860s.
Savage Mansion
The Savage mine office occupied the first floor off the Savage Mansion, with the superintendent residing on the top two floors. The mansion was built in 1861, and the bottom photo shows it in the 1870s.
Fourth Ward School
The Fourth Ward School was built one year after the 1875 fire and remained open for the next 60 years, closing in 1936. It sat idle for decades and then reopened as a museum in 1986. The first photo is undated
Old Washoe Club
The Old Washoe Club had a roster of 50+ newly minted millionaires when it opened in June of 1875. Four months later the building was severely damaged in the fire, and the Club moved to the C Street structure in 1876. The luxury club closed in 1897 when the mines played out. The building is now a saloon and museum with ghost tours. The first photo is undated.
