Golden spike

41°37′4.67″N 112°33′5.87″W / 41.6179639°N 112.5516306°W / 41.6179639; -112.5516306

The original "golden spike", on display at the Cantor Arts Museum at Stanford University

The golden spike (also known as The Last Spike[1]) is the ceremonial 17.6-karat gold final spike driven by Leland Stanford to join the rails of the first transcontinental railroad across the United States connecting the Central Pacific Railroad from Sacramento and the Union Pacific Railroad from Omaha on May 10, 1869, at Promontory Summit, Utah Territory. The term last spike has been used to refer to one driven at the usually ceremonial completion of any new railroad construction projects, particularly those in which construction is undertaken from two disparate origins towards a common meeting point. The spike is now displayed in the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University.[2]

  1. ^ "The Last Spike" by Thomas Hill, 1881 The Central Pacific Photographic History Museum
  2. ^ Family Collections at the Cantor Arts Center Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts

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