Golden Spike Cultural Landscape Report

Creation and Administration of the Golden Spike National Historic Site: 1957-2000

On April 2, 1957, Interior Secretary Fred Seaton took the first official step to recognize the significance of what had occurred at Promontory by designating a 7-acre tract of land at the summit that belonged to the Southern Pacific as a national historic site to commemorate where Leland Stanford, Thomas Durant and others had driven the last spike. This designation reflected both the continuing efforts of the Golden Spike Association since 1947 and growing National Park Service interest in protecting the site. From 1957 until 1965, the Golden Spike Association of Box Elder County, spearheaded by Bernice Gibbs Anderson, maintained the site through a cooperative agreement [19] among the federal government, the state of Utah, and the Southern and Central Pacific railroad companies. Both the designation of the land and the cooperative agreement were done under the authority of the Historic Sites Act of 1935 (Anderson 1968:1; Stewart Udall, Secretary of the Interior, to Sen. Henry Jackson, letter, May 17, 1965, printed in Senate Report 329, 89th Congress, 1st session, p. 4).

In addition to the annual reenactments of the Golden Spike ceremony, other developments at the site between 1957 and 1965 included placing two parallel lengths of rail on the 7-acre leased tract. The concrete monument previously placed there by the Southern Pacific remained at the site, surrounded by an iron fence. A brass plaque, indicating that the area had been named a national historic site, was placed on the monument in 1958. But it seemed to many that the completion of the first transcontinental railroad linking the Pacific to the Atlantic and opening the interior West to settlement and economic development deserved more recognition. In October of 1959, and again in September of 1960, the Advisory Board on National Parks, Historic Sites, Buildings and Monuments recommended enlarging the site and increasing development and interpretation of the area (Udall to Jackson, letter, May 17, 1965, Senate Report 329, 89th Congress, 1st session, pp. 4-5).

In February of 1963, the Southwest Region of the National Park Service completed an area investigation report, numbered NHS-GS 7100A, recommending that the federal government acquire as much land as was thought necessary to establish a national monument at the site of the completion of the first transcontinental railroad, including the site of the driving of the last spike that symbolized the completion. This report kindled interest in Congress regarding the need to create a more lasting and more informative tribute to the joining of the rails at Promontory (Senate Hearing before the Subcommittee on Parks and Recreation of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, United States Senate, 89th Congress, 1st session, May 19, 1965, pp. 1-2).

As the centennial of the May 10, 1869 Golden Spike ceremony approached, the Utah delegation in Congress began to sponsor legislation that would establish the Golden Spike National Monument (later amended in the final bill to Historic Site). Utah Senator Wallace Bennett, for example, introduced bills to create a national monument in both the 87th and 88th congresses. Finally, in 1965, during the first session of the 89th Congress, Senate bill 26 was passed, which authorized "the Secretary of the Interior to acquire lands for, and to develop, operate, and maintain, the Golden Spike National Historic Site" in order to commemorate "the completion of the first transcontinental railroad across the United States." On July 30 President Lyndon Johnson signed the measure into law (Act of July 30, 1965; Senate Hearing before the Subcommittee on Parks and Recreation of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, United States Senate, 89th Congress, 1st session, May 19, 1965:15). [20]

During Senate hearings on S. 26, held on May 19, 1965, the bill's sponsor, Utah Senator Frank Moss, stated that the action to enlarge and develop the site at Promontory was "long overdue." Describing the achievement as the culmination of the "greatest roadbuilding race in history," Moss praised the railroad engineers who a century ago had defeated

Indians, sweltering heat, sub-zero weather, and the seemingly unassailable ramparts of the towering Rockies and Sierra Nevadas. A heterogeneous host of workmen were used, including brawny Irishmen, pigtailed Chinese, and industrious Mormons. Success was achieved only by a veritable miracle of organization and teamwork, and the unbelievable endurance of the men who laid the rails.

The "marriage of the rails" fulfilled the dream of Columbus for a shorter route to the Orient, insured possession of the entire West to the United States, and began a new era of development of the Nation [1965b:6].

Senator Moss also noted that at its last session the Utah state legislature had created a Golden Spike Centennial Commission and had appropriated $10,000 for the commission to spend on organizing a celebration in honor of the 100th anniversary in 1969. Building on that momentum, Moss found the time ripe for giving "the area the status it deserves so its full development may be undertaken by the National Park Service and it can be ready for its rendezvous with history in 1969." Moss explained further that the Southern Pacific Railroad had recently deeded to the federal government a 730-acre portion of the old right-of-way, but that the Department of Justice had raised questions regarding the title to this land. The need to obtain a clear title, Moss continued, had been one of the reasons he was seeking this legislation (1965b:7).

Also testifying at the Senate hearing in favor of the bill was the director of the National Park Service, George B . Hartzog, Jr. He stated that the creation of the Golden Spike National Historic Site (NHS) would allow the National Park Service "to preserve and to partially restore this significant area and to employ its skill in interpreting the railroad story and showing the social, political, and economic results of this great transportation advance." Hartzog noted that through a combination of purchasing and exchanging lands, the Interior Department would acquire 2,176 acres for the site, in a linear strip of the railroad's right-of way measuring 15-1/2 miles long. Most of this strip, Hartzog explained, was 400 feet wide, except for wider areas at the Golden Spike Monument and other locations needed for a visitor center, access roads, overlooks, parking, wayside exhibits and other necessary facilities (1965b:11).

Director Hartzog also explained that of the total site acreage, 1,542 acres of private land (including the Southern Pacific Railroad Company acreage under clouded title) would be purchased for $118,000 and the remaining 634 acres of state lands would be exchanged for other federally owned lands. In answer to a question from Nevada Senator Alan Bible as to why this much acreage was needed for a historic site, Hartzog replied that the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads had started building their two lines in 1862.

They passed each other here. Rather than meeting, they went by each other until finally the Federal Government rejected this and required that they join their lines at the site that has now been recognized as Promontory Summit, on this right-of-way. All of the cuts and fills, evidencing this competition between these two lines, still remains on the terrain. This is hilly county, through this large area here, and affords the best opportunity for a high-ground interpretation of the passing of these two lines...We believe that it is necessary to acquire enough land to spread out in this particularly historic area for roadside interpretation and an overview of this whole terrain [1965b: 12].

In addition to the funds needed for land acquisition, Congress also appropriated $1,050,000 for development of the site. This money was used to build the visitor center, to provide the necessary parking areas and other facilities, to build access roads, and to develop interpretive exhibits at the Golden Spike NHS. The legislation also authorized annual operating costs, which were initially estimated at $80,000 (Senate Report 329, 89th Congress, 1st session, 1965, p. 3). In 1976, Congress voted to substantially increase the appropriation for the site, raising the total for land acquisition and development to $5,422,000 (Act of October 21, 1976). [21] Finally, in 1980, Congress amended the boundaries of the site, increasing its acreage to just over 2,735 acres, including 532 that remained in non-federal ownership (Act of September 8, 1980; NPS 1988:4). [22]

As of 1988, this development ceiling had been changed to $5,324,000, but an additional $348,000 had been allocated for land acquisition (NPS 1988:6). Also, in 1992, Congress appropriated $195,000 for a study of the feasibility of constructing a tourist railroad to link Golden Spike NHS to Ogden. Although the 1980 legislation had first authorized this study, it was not conducted until the early 1990s (NPS 1994:Executive Summary). Several related studies have been completed or are underway with funds from the State of Utah to further assess the viability of this proposal or, alternatively, of a shorter passenger operation at the Last Spike Site.