"The joining of the two rail lines created a new sense of connectedness that helped form a common national identity." "The story of this site says so much about our country," Bernhardt said at the event, which included a reenactment of an iconic "champagne toast" photo of railroad workers perched atop facing trains giving cheers to the epic feat. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt marveled at how engineering, courage and risk-taking came together to make it possible. "It psychologically and symbolically bound the country," said Brad Westwood, Utah's senior public historian. (Andrew Russell/Union Pacific via AP, File) 119, right, and Central Pacific's Jupiter edged forward over the golden spike that marked the joining of the nation by rail. The completion of the Transcontinental Railroad was a pivotal moment in the United States, ushering in a period of progress and expansion nationwide. ![]() It became a pivotal moment in United States history that dramatically changed how people traveled and did business.įILE - In this May 10, 1869, file photo, provided by the Union Pacific, railroad officials and employees celebrate the completion of the first railroad transcontinental link in Promontory, Utah. The 1869 completion of the 1,800-mile (2,900 kilometer) rail line shortened cross-county travel from as long as six months in wagons and stagecoaches to about 10 days on the rails and served as a unifying moment for the nation. Visitors came from as far as China, many decked out in old-fashioned dresses, top hats, bonnets and scarves. PROMONTORY, Utah (AP) - Music, bells and cannon fire rang out Friday at a remote spot in the Utah desert where the final spikes of the Transcontinental Railroad were hammered 150 years ago, uniting a nation long separated by vast expanses of desert, mountains and forests and fresh off the Civil War.Īn estimated 20,000 people swarmed to the celebration at Golden Spike National Historic Park northwest of Salt Lake City - the signature event of several days of festivities marking the railroad's anniversary. On this sesquicentennial celebration, we recognize the American ingenuity and the hard work and grit of all the workers that made the construction of this railroad and the unification of our Nation possible.A historic photo from 1869 is recreated with Doug Foxley, left, and Spencer Stokes, co-chairs of the event, during the 150th anniversary celebration at the Golden Spike National Historical Park in Promontory, Utah, on Friday, May 10, 2019. The completion of the transcontinental railroad catalyzed our country's development, empowered greater settlement of the American West, and expanded prosperity from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In the years that followed, this tremendous engineering feat helped revolutionize interstate travel and commerce. ![]() We also honor our former leaders who had the vision and understanding that a robust infrastructure supports a vibrant economy. Through blizzards and other treacherous weather, they blasted and chiseled 15 tunnels through the hard granite of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Roughly 12,000 workers of Chinese ancestry worked to dig out a particularly challenging section. We honor the undaunted efforts of the people who made this innovation possible, including workers of Irish and Chinese descent, as well as freed slaves, Native Americans, Civil War veterans, and Latter-day Saints. Our Nation celebrates the thousands of workers who diligently laid track for 6 years across desolate plains and treacherous mountains. This unbroken rail line of nearly 2,000 miles from Omaha, Nebraska, to Sacramento, California, connected the existing eastern rail network to the western States and Territories, enabling passengers and goods to travel from coast to coast more economically and in as little as a week. ![]() ![]() On May 10, 1869, the final golden spike was driven into the ground at Promontory Summit, Utah, joining the tracks of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads. One hundred fifty years ago, the first transcontinental railroad in the United States was completed, and our Nation was changed forever.
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