Golden Spike Ceremony at Promontory, Utah
5/10/1869
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The Transcontinental Railroad was completed on May 10, 1869, when four ceremonial gold and silver spikes were driven into a laurel wood railroad tie at Promontory Summit, northwest of Salt Lake City, Utah. This act joined 1,776 miles of rail belonging to the Union and Central Pacific railroads. The Union Pacific’s engine, 119, is on the left; the Central Pacific’s Jupiter is on the right. The ceremonial spikes and tie were removed and replaced with iron and pine.
Text adapted from “Evaluating Perspectives on Westward Expansion: Weighing the Evidence” in the special "Teaching Difficult Topics with Primary Sources" November/December 2011 issue of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) publication Social Education.
Text adapted from “Evaluating Perspectives on Westward Expansion: Weighing the Evidence” in the special "Teaching Difficult Topics with Primary Sources" November/December 2011 issue of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) publication Social Education.
This primary source comes from the Records of the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture.
National Archives Identifier: 594940
Full Citation: Photograph 16-G-99-1-1; Golden Spike Ceremony at Promontory, Utah; 5/10/1869; Historical File of the Office of Information, Department of Agriculture, 1900 - 1959; Records of the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture, Record Group 16; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/golden-spike-ceremony, December 11, 2024]Activities that use this document
- Evaluating Perspectives on Westward Expansion
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