Golden Spike National Historic Site - Definition and Overview

Golden Spike National Historic Site is a U.S. National Historic Site located at Promontory Summit, north of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. It commerates the completion of the first Transcontinental Railroad where the Central Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad met on May 10, 1869. The final joining of the rails spanning the continent was signified by the driving of a Golden spike.

The Historic Site encompasses 2,735 acres (11 km²). In 2002, it received 49,950 visitors. It was authorized as a National Historic Site on April 2, 1957 under nonfederal ownsership. It was authorized for federal ownership and administration by an act of Congress on July 30, 1965.

In 1978, a general master plan for the site was adopted which included the goal of maintaining the site's scenic attributes as closely as possible to its appearance and characteristics present in 1869.

External links

• Official site maintained by the National Park Service (http://www.nps.gov/gosp/)
• Photographic virtual tour of Golden Spike National Historic Site. (http://www.Untraveledroad.com/USA/Parks/Historic/GoldenSpike.htm)