Golden Spike - Golden Spike National Historic Site

Golden Spike National Historic Site is located on the Promontory Peninsula on the north shore of the Great Salt Lake. The park commemorates the joining of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads to create the Transcontinental Railroad, the first rail linkage across the United States. A "golden spike" was symbolically tapped into the rail bed on May 10, 1869 as a crowd of workers, politicians, and reporters watched. Towns and cities all across the nation were notified by telegraph of the historic event. Today, a park visitor center is located along the now-abandoned railroad line. The tracks in the vicinity are maintained to support a limited railroad line used by park visitors (Bain, 1999; NPS, [2010, 2010b]).