Uploaded May 2019 | Updated September 2026, 15 minutes ago
Editors Note: I meant to say Promontory SUMMIT - not Promontory Point :)
The 150th Anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad was celebrated at Golden Spike National Historic Site and other locations accress the west in May of 2019.
It started with the signing of the Pacific Railway Act of 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln. The Central Pacific Railroad of California, chartered in 1861, was authorized to build a line east from Sacramento. At the same time, the Act chartered the Union Pacific Railroad Company to build west from the Missouri River. The original legislation granted each railroad 6,400 acres and up to $48,000 in government bonds for each mile completed. And so, The Great Race began.
Promontory Summit in Northern Utah has experienced a rich, colorful history, yet it remains a paradox. The area has seen boom and bust. It has been famous world-over, yet remains anonymous in many ways, The “Last Spike Site” is an honored and celebrated place, but it has also been quite infamous. The completion of the country’s first transcontinental railroad, and the “Wedding of the Rails Ceremony” commemorating this historic event, are taught to virtually every American child in basic U.S. history classes. But few people know where these events really happened. Many historians point to the “Last Spike Site” as the single most important site in our country, west of Independence Hall. Yet this significant site laid virtually abandoned and ignored for almost a century.
It took 96 years after the completion of the transcontinental railroad for the site to gain its rightful place in history. The transcontinental line was completed May 10, 1869, but it wasn’t until July 30, 1965 that the U.S. government showed a tangible interest in protecting and preserving this important piece of our history and heritage. It was July 30, 1965 that Golden Spike National Historical Park was established under the protection of the National Park Service. This recognition of the site’s importance came only after 38 long years of struggle by Bernice Gibbs Anderson, who ceaselessly campaigned for the site to take its rightful place in history, be given the protection it deserves, and to have its story told.
By 1969, the country was no longer oblivious to the importance of the railroad’s completion. May 10, 1969 marked the Centennial of the “Wedding of the Rails.” An astounding 28,000 people turned out, on that one day, to commemorate the line’s completion. They did so in the shadow of a handsome new rock-walled visitor center, built to house displays to teach present and future generations about the transcontinental railroad and its impact on our young country. Ten years later, for the 110th Anniversary, two bright, shiny, and fully functional replicas of the Jupiter and No. 119 locomotives arrived at Golden Spike National Historical Park. These locomotives continue to draw crowds from around the world, capturing their imagination and sparking their interest about days gone by.
Parts of the text above was sourced from the following links:
up.com/goldenspike/index.html
nps.gov/gosp/learn/historyculture/the-last-spike-history-at-a-glance.htm
This video pays tribute to the Sesquicentennial of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869. Golden Spike National Historic Site footage was captured on location in Promontory Summit, Utah during July 2018.
#done
#goldenspike150
#spike150
Editors Note: I meant to say Promontory SUMMIT - not Promontory Point :)
The 150th Anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad was celebrated at Golden Spike National Historic Site and other locations accress the west in May of 2019.
It started with the signing of the Pacific Railway Act of 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln. The Central Pacific Railroad of California, chartered in 1861, was authorized to build a line east from Sacramento. At the same time, the Act chartered the Union Pacific Railroad Company to build west from the Missouri River. The original legislation granted each railroad 6,400 acres and up to $48,000 in government bonds for each mile completed. And so, The Great Race began.
Promontory Summit in Northern Utah has experienced a rich, colorful history, yet it remains a paradox. The area has seen boom and bust. It has been famous world-over, yet remains anonymous in many ways, The “Last Spike Site” is an honored and celebrated place, but it has also been quite infamous. The completion of the country’s first transcontinental railroad, and the “Wedding of the Rails Ceremony” commemorating this historic event, are taught to virtually every American child in basic U.S. history classes. But few people know where these events really happened. Many historians point to the “Last Spike Site” as the single most important site in our country, west of Independence Hall. Yet this significant site laid virtually abandoned and ignored for almost a century.
It took 96 years after the completion of the transcontinental railroad for the site to gain its rightful place in history. The transcontinental line was completed May 10, 1869, but it wasn’t until July 30, 1965 that the U.S. government showed a tangible interest in protecting and preserving this important piece of our history and heritage. It was July 30, 1965 that Golden Spike National Historical Park was established under the protection of the National Park Service. This recognition of the site’s importance came only after 38 long years of struggle by Bernice Gibbs Anderson, who ceaselessly campaigned for the site to take its rightful place in history, be given the protection it deserves, and to have its story told.
By 1969, the country was no longer oblivious to the importance of the railroad’s completion. May 10, 1969 marked the Centennial of the “Wedding of the Rails.” An astounding 28,000 people turned out, on that one day, to commemorate the line’s completion. They did so in the shadow of a handsome new rock-walled visitor center, built to house displays to teach present and future generations about the transcontinental railroad and its impact on our young country. Ten years later, for the 110th Anniversary, two bright, shiny, and fully functional replicas of the Jupiter and No. 119 locomotives arrived at Golden Spike National Historical Park. These locomotives continue to draw crowds from around the world, capturing their imagination and sparking their interest about days gone by.
Parts of the text above was sourced from the following links:
up.com/goldenspike/index.html
nps.gov/gosp/learn/historyculture/the-last-spike-history-at-a-glance.htm
This video pays tribute to the Sesquicentennial of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869. Golden Spike National Historic Site footage was captured on location in Promontory Summit, Utah during July 2018.
#done
#goldenspike150
#spike150
