The Lost Spike
Here is a picture of the Lost Spike that is on display at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, California.
On May 10th 1869 at Promontory, Utah a ceremony was held at the completion of the joining of the
Central Pacific and the Union Pacific Railroads. This event linked the East and West coasts of America,
creating the first Transcontinental Railroad. A golden spike was ceremoniously driven into the final
railroad tie by Leland Stanford, the President of the Centrail Pacific Railroad and former Governor of California.
The gold spike was presented to Leland Stanford by David Hewes who had it and a second one
made in San Francisco by Joseph Garrett in 1869.
The Last Spike was engraved by the Schulz, Fischer, & Mohrig company and had a date of May 8, 1869. The
ceremony took place two days later because the Union Pacific train was delayed.
The spike was returned to Hewes after the ceremony and in 1892 Hewes presented it to Stanford University.
![]() Al Mollo |
![]() Connie Mollo |
![]() Cecilia, Tim & Julia Shinn |
![]() David Shinn on his 5th birthday |
![]() Mike Garcia |
![]() Jeff Brown |
![]() Robert "RC" Craven |
![]() John Nicholson |
![]() Pat Boyle |
![]() The empty case |