Today in History: Transcontinental Railroad Completed
Today in History–May 10–the Library of Congress features the U.S. transcontinental railroad, celebrated on this day in 1869 when a symbolic golden spike was driven into the ground at Promontory Summit, in Utah Territory—approximately thirty-five miles away from Promontory Point, the site where the rails of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific were joined. This railroad connected the United States from coast to coast, reducing a four-month journey to just one week. Learn more by visiting the Today in History section, then click the links below to access more related primary sources.
Pacific Railroad Act
- 37th Congress: Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 (pdf p. 235)
- 37th Congress: Pacific Railroad Act of 1863 (pdf p. 553)
- 38th Congress: Pacific Railroad Act of 1864 (pdf p. 386)
- 38th Congress: Pacific Railroad Act of 1865 (pdf p. 534)
- 39th Congress: Pacific Railroad Act of 1866 (pdf p. 111, p. 387)
Transcontinental Railroad
- Transcontinental railroad images
- Building the transcontinental railroad book excerpt, full book also available
- How We Built the Union Pacific Railway, and Other Railway Papers and Addresses
- After Lewis & Clark section online exhibition, including documents and maps related to the transcontinental railroad
- Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum
- Letter from the president of the Union Pacific, requesting that President Lincoln send a letter to be read at a ground-breaking ceremony
- Golden Spike, 1869: Topics in Chronicling America timeline and select newspaper articles
- Transcontinental Railroad historical newspaper coverage 1860-1870
- Transcontinental Railroad historical newspaper coverage post 1870
- Railroad Communication with the Pacific: Central Pacific Railroad [supplement] The Galaxy, Volume 4, Issue 8, Dec 1867
- Historic Moments: Driving The Last Spike Of The Union Pacific Scribner’s Magazine, Volume 12, Issue 2, August, 1892
- Transcontinental Railroad online exhibition Burlington Northern Santa Fe Foundation
- Transcontinental Railroad article from Railroad Maps 1828-1900
- Promontory Summit and the Transcontinental Railroad Inside Adams blog May 10, 2019
Union Pacific primary sources
- Union Pacific maps
- Union Pacific images
- Union Pacific correspondence
- Union Pacific books & other texts
- Union Pacific Grand March sheet music
Central Pacific primary sources
- Central Pacific maps
- Central Pacific images
- Central Pacific correspondence
- Central Pacific books & other texts
Related resources