Official Source: NPS Golden Spike
source confidence: High status: Useful updated 2026-06-18
Summary
The National Park Service page for Golden Spike National Historical Park describes the park at Promontory Summit, Utah, where the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads met and the first transcontinental railroad was completed.
Useful Claims
- Golden Spike National Historical Park preserves and interprets the Last Spike Site and railroad construction features at Promontory Summit.
- NPS frames the completion of the first transcontinental railroad as one of the great technological achievements of the nineteenth century.
- The site includes original railroad grade, construction features, and Victorian-era replica locomotives.
- NPS provides the official park identity, location, visitor context, and history-and-culture entry point for the Golden Spike story.
- The official page is a stable first citation for the park and should be paired with labor-history sources for Chinese, Irish, Latter-day Saint, and other worker contributions.
Verbatim
"One of the greatest technological achievements of the 19th century is the completion of the first transcontinental railroad across the United States." — Park home page, heading
"Visitors to the park can see the location of the Last Spike Site, 1869 railroad construction features, walk or drive on the original railroad grade, and get an up close view of Victorian era replica locomotives." — Park home page, heading
Reliability Notes
This is the official federal park source and is strong evidence for the site's public interpretation and preservation status. It is not sufficient by itself for labor history, Indigenous dispossession, financing, or railroad-company chronology.