Archive for May 10th, 2011

DRIVING OF THE GOLDEN SPIKE ~ ON THIS DATE IN 1869

first transcontinental railroad

The ceremony for the driving of the golden spike at Promontory Summit, Utah, May 10, 1869.

The "First Transcontinental Railroad" is a railroad line across the U.S. linking Omaha, Nebraska with Sacramento, California in the 1860s, linking the railway network of the Eastern United States with California on the Pacific coast. Ceremonially completed on May 10, 1869, at the famous " golden spike" event at Promontory Summit, Utah, it
created a nation-wide mechanized transportation network that revolutionized the population and economy of the American West.

map-of-transcontinental-rr

golden spike 

One of four gold-plated spikes driven
at the completion ceremony.

posted by Bob Karm in ANNIVERSARY,DEBUT,HISTORY,Transportation and have No Comments