Urban Legends

"The Last Golden Spike was in the middle of Niles Canyon"

So many urban legends can pop up after 150 years with stories told over and over again... sort of a telegraph game.

The stickiest one is that the actual final  golden spike was in the middle of Niles Canyon. In actuality, that location was one location where work started up again after the Promontory Golden Spike ceremony. See Victor Wong's article.  So many people in Niles believe this legend. 

So where does this come from? Perhaps from here? Where are  the articles "Golden Spike I" and Golden Spike II"? 

This is probably from the Niles Library files.  IMG_6436-8. Or maybe they are still online? 136 years after May 1869 (2005).

From this reporting, it just sounds like they were celebrating the actual line reaching the SF Bay, not an actual location. 

From the Patch September 9th 2019  'Golden Spike' Ceremony Held To Honor Niles Canyon Railway.

Many of us attended....

"This is the real 'Golden Spike' ... just 150 years late," Henry Baum told Friday's gathering. Baum is president of the Pacific Locomotive Association, which operates the Niles Canyon line. "It's very historic what we're doing here today."

The fate of people who make up history a la Steven Ambrose.