Golden Spike National Historical Park Button Magnet

Long before a network of automobile highways crisscrossed the nation, the continent was conquered by rail. On May 10, 1869, the ceremonial driving of a golden spike at Promontory Summit, Utah, signaled the completion of America’s first transcontinental railroad. “May God continue the unity of our Country,” an inscription on the spike read, “as this Railroad unites the two great Oceans of the world.”