Golden Spike Cultural Landscape Report

Buildings and Structures

Buildings

Historically, the buildings associated with the construction and operation of the transcontinental railroad were mostly located within construction workers' camps and later, at Promontory Station. Buildings constructed by workers are best defined as "vernacular" or utilitarian, and as meeting the minimum definition of "building" i.e., as an element constructed to shelter human activity. From the images that survive of these shelters it is clear that they were meant to be temporary and were made of locally available materials according to individual skills.

The first permanent buildings were erected after completion of the railroad, during the operational stage. Most were located in the vicinity of Promontory Station, including the depot and associated dining facility on the south side of the tracks, and the private commercial and residential buildings located on the north side of the grade. Initially, many of the buildings were impermanent in character (especially the privately constructed buildings on the north side of the grade) consisting of canvas tents with wooden storefronts. Over the years these temporary materials were gradually replaced with more permanent materials. For the most part the building styles continued to be vernacular, and primarily of wood frame construction. Some of the railroad employee bunkhouses reportedly were constructed with surplus railroad ties. During the height of development, Promontory Station included community buildings, buildings associated with operation and maintenance of the railroad, buildings to house railroad employees, as well as buildings associated with local farm and ranch operations.

In 1969, the park service completed construction of the visitor center, located opposite the Last Spike Site. This is the largest building in the summit area. Other modern buildings include the ranger's residence and those located in the maintenance area and the boneyard.

Structures

Historically, a variety of structures , some temporary and some permanent were incorporated into the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroad grades. During the primary period of significance, the period during which construction activity was concentrated in the vicinity of the Promontories, it was not uncommon for temporary structures to be used. Examples include the Big Trestle, built by the Union Pacific and slated for replacement with a more permanent structure after the race for completion of the line was over. Obviously, there are few extant examples of these types of intentionally temporary structures. Those incorporated into the grade selected for the transcontinental line were replaced as the grade was maintained. Those incorporated into the redundant, parallel line were simply left to deteriorate, and are now sometimes represented by archaeological remains.

Not all of the structures built during the final push to complete the line were temporary. The stone culverts incorporated into the grade are more substantial and appear to have been meant to be permanent — to the extent that any structure can be permanent. Most manmade structures will deteriorate over time, and the current collection of culverts incorporated into the grade represents the maintenance efforts of a variety of time periods — the most recent generation represented by metal pipe culverts. Presently, there are two intact trestles and 24 culverts that date to the historical period located within the 151/2 miles of railroad grade inside the NHS boundary.

Summary

During the historical period, buildings and structures represented a small but important component of the cultural landscape associated with the construction and operation of the railroad. Although none of the historical buildings remain, a number of structural components of the railroad grade remain and are counted as contributing landscape features. These include:

Noncontributing buildings and structures include: