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The Golden Spike book cover
The Golden Spike
How a Photograph Celebrated the Transcontinental Railroad
2015
First Published
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In the mid-1860s, as the Union Pacific Railroad headed westward from Nebraska, another company, the Central Pacific, pushed eastward from California. Their goal was to meet somewhere in between, forming a single railway line that would bridge the continent. That historic meeting took place in May 1869 in northern Utah, and photographer Andrew J. Russell was there to document the historic event. His work resulted in one of the most important photos of the 19th century and probably the most famous railroad image of all time. The photo, often called “East and West,” was viewed by a worldwide audience and affirmed that railroads were at the cutting edge of transportation technology. The continent was now linked.
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Author

Don Nardo
Don Nardo
Author · 37 books
Don Nardo (born February 22, 1947) is an American historian, composer, and writer. With close to four hundred and fifty published books, he is one of the most prolific authors in the United States, and one of the country's foremost writers of historical works for children and teens.
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