On this day, the ‘Last Spike’, a ceremonial 17.6-karat gold spike, was driven by Leland Stanford to join the rails of the first transcontinental railroad across the United States. The term ‘last spike’ refers to the one driven at the ceremonial completion of any new railroad construction project, particularly when the construction is undertaken from two disparate origins towards a common meeting point. The idea of completing the last link with a spike of gold was the brainchild of David Hewes, a San Francisco financier and contractor. In anticipation of the ceremony, two locomotives, the Union Pacific No. 119 and the Central Pacific No. 60, were drawn up face-to-face on Promontory Summit. The gold spike was removed immediately after being hammered in to prevent it from being stolen, and it is now on display in the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University.
Leland Stanford and the “Last Spike”
10th May 1869