First Transcontinental Railroad

First Transcontinental Railroad is a California Historical Landmark in Sacramento County.

Sacramento County · Old Sacramento State Historic Park · location approximate

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Here, on January 8, 1863, Governor Leland Stanford turned the first spade of earth to begin construction of the Central Pacific Railroad. After more than six years of labor, crews of the Central Pacific Railroad from the west and the Union Pacific Railroad from the east met at Promontory, Utah. There, on May 10, 1869, Stanford drove the gold spike which signified completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad. The Central Pacific Railroad, forerunner of the Southern Pacific Company, was planned by Theodore D. Judah and constructed largely through the efforts of the "Big Four"—Sacramento businessmen Leland Stanford, Collis P. Huntington, Charles Crocker, and Mark Hopkins.

1971 register text, presented as a historical document. It uses the period's terms for Native people; the state's landmark listings still carry most of this wording, and the California Office of Historic Preservation maintains the program's current texts.

Many of these plaques have since been recast or their texts revised. The California Historical Landmarks program and its current texts are maintained by the California Office of Historic Preservation. California Office of Historic Preservation ↗

TodayHistorical map

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David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

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what this marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years here

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Marker data: State of California, Department of Parks and Recreation, California Historical Landmarks (1971)

More markers nearby

Headquarters of the "Big Four"under 1 mi
Eagle Theaterunder 1 mi
Site of Sacramento Unionunder 1 mi
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On the National Register nearby

"Big Four" House160 ft

Places within about 300 feet of this marker that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A nearby listing is not always the marker's own subject.