In the middle of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act into law. It declared that a railroad would be built to connect the United States' east and west coasts and unite the nation. After six years of construction and roughly $100 million in costs, the transcontinental railroad was completed on May 10, 1869.
To celebrate the completion of the railroad, a ceremony was held where four special spikes would be driven into a laurelwood tie to mark the occasion. Those were the Golden Spike, The Nevada Silver Spike, The Arizona Spike (an iron spike plated with gold and silver), and a second spike also made of gold.
The transcontinental railroad reduced the travel time between the east and west coasts from months to days. It not only allowed more ease of movement for people, but also for goods and supplies. It transformed the nation! Utah is proud of the part it played in this important chapter of United States history!
Facts about the spikes and the transcontinental railroad
The Arizona Spike recently sold at auction for $2.22 million.
The Golden Spike weighs 14.03 ounces, is 5 5/8 inches long, and is made from 17.6 carat gold.
The Golden Spike is 73% gold, alloyed with copper.
One of the spikes, the second golden spike, is missing. No one knows where it is! Some think it was destroyed in the fires that resulted from the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906.
The workers who built the transcontinental railroad laid 1,776 miles of track across the Western United States; 690 by the Central Pacific and 1,086 by the Union Pacific.
David Hewes, brother-in-law and friend of Leland Stanford, who owned the Central Pacific railroad, used $400 of his own gold to have the Golden Spike made.
During the ceremony on May 10, 1869, Leland Stanford, owner of the Central Pacific Railroad, made the first swing at the Golden Spike, but missed, hitting a rail instead!
Following the ceremony at Promontory Summit, the Golden Spike was on display for a short while, then returned to Hewes's personal collection. In 1892, he donated it to Stanford University.