{"id":2529,"slug":"golden-spike-national-historical-park-promontory-summit-utah","story":[{"heading":null,"paragraphs":["Golden Spike is where the railroads met — the May 10, 1869 ceremony at Promontory Summit where the last spike joined the Central Pacific and Union Pacific, completing the first transcontinental railroad. The site was abandoned and ignored for 96 years before the park was created.","The spike was the symbol — the golden spike that wasn't the last one driven (it was ceremonial and removed), the 'Wedding of the Rails' photograph, the tent city of Promontory that was wild for seven months before the junction moved to Ogden. Bernice Gibbs Anderson campaigned 38 years for the site's recognition.","The site is still there — the replica locomotives Jupiter and No. 119 that recreate the meeting, the last spike site marked by the wooden tie, the 15 miles of original grade. The file keeps the site: the 1869 ceremony, the 96-year neglect, and the summit that joined the nation.","Golden Spike is the archive's railroad file — the transcontinental completion, the Promontory ceremony, and the site that took 96 years to be honored."]},{"heading":"Why this file matters","paragraphs":["Golden Spike is the archive's railroad file — the 1869 wedding of the rails, the Promontory Summit site, and the spike that joined the nation.","A spike that joined the rails keeps its site — the file's suggestion being that Golden Spike's hold is the meeting: the two companies, the ceremonial gold, and the summit that's the railroad's monument."]}],"name":"Golden Spike National Historical Park","aliases":[],"type":"HISTORIC_SITE","type_label":"Historic Site","cats":["HISTORIC_SITE","OLD_WEST"],"groups":["historic-sites"],"desc":"Where the rails met—May 10, 1869.","full_desc":"A historic site in Promontory Summit, Utah, Golden Spike National Historical Park is filed here for what the record attaches to it. Where the rails met—May 10, 1869. The archive files it under the Old West. The dossier holds 1 reported claim and 1 documented fact, with the verified spine filed separately from the lore. The site is open to visitors.","address":null,"city":"Promontory Summit","county":null,"state":"Utah","postal":null,"region":"West","lat":37.805337,"lon":-112.933135,"coord_kind":"CITY","status":"HISTORIC_SITE","access":"PUBLIC","access_notes":null,"ownership":null,"website":null,"phone":null,"year_built":null,"year_opened":null,"year_closed":null,"year_demolished":null,"designation":null,"current_use":null,"research_notes":"Landmarks batch; VERIFY task auto-queued.","stage":"SOURCE_RESEARCH","quality":{"level":"MEDIUM","score":59.4,"dims":{"location_confidence":0.75,"identity_confidence":0.65,"historical_confidence":0.8,"source_quality":0.3999999999999999,"paranormal_claim_provenance":0.8,"coordinate_confidence":0,"current_access_confidence":0.7,"freshness":0.65}},"claims":[{"id":2004,"type":"HISTORICAL_LEGEND","description":"The site is documented history—the lore layer is minimal. The reports at Golden Spike National Historical Park are the site's second history — unofficial, unverified, and stubbornly retold. Coverage gave the claim its audience; proof remains another matter. The legend does what legends do — it explains the place in a way the records can't.","evidence":"MEDIA_REPORTED","evidence_label":"Media reported","entity":null,"where":null,"first_report":null,"approx_date":null,"confidence":0.8,"conflict_notes":null,"source":{"name":"Golden Spike NHS","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Spike_National_Historic_Site","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4},"conflicting_source":null,"variants":[]}],"history":[{"description":"The May 10, 1869 joining is documented. Golden Spike National Historical Park's past is on record — the entry belongs to the verified layer the museum itself interprets. This belongs to the verified spine of the entry, the layer everything else is measured against. The detail is preserved in 'Golden Spike NHS'. The entry's timeline holds it; the lore holds the rest.","evidence":"HISTORICALLY_VERIFIED","date_start":null,"date_end":"1869-05-10","confidence":null,"source":{"name":"Golden Spike NHS","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Spike_National_Historic_Site","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}}],"legends":[],"entities":[],"events":[],"investigations":[],"encounters":[],"media":[],"persons":[],"visitor":{"tour_availability":"Verify before visiting","notes":"Historic site; verify hours and access with the managing agency before visiting.","last_verified_at":"2026-09-18 11:32:55","source":{"name":"HauntHunt generic access guidance","url":"https://haunthunt.com/about#access-guidance","publisher":"HauntHunt editorial","type":"DIRECTORY","authority":2}},"sources":[{"name":"Golden Spike NHS","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Spike_National_Historic_Site","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}],"conflicts":[],"wiki":{"title":"Golden Spike National Historical Park","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Spike_National_Historical_Park","desc":"National Historical Park of the United States","extract":"Golden Spike National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park located at Promontory Summit, north of the Great Salt Lake in east-central Box Elder County, Utah, United States. The nearest city is Corinne, approximately 23 miles (37 km) east-southeast of the site.\nIt commemorates the completion of the first Transcontinental Railroad where the Central Pacific Railroad and the first Union Pacific Railroad met on May 10, 1869. The final joining of the rails spanning the continent was signified by the driving of the ceremonial golden spike.","img":"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/A111%2C_Golden_Spike_National_Historic_Site%2C_Utah%2C_USA%2C_2004.jpg?utm_source=en.wikipedia.org&utm_campaign=api&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled","score":104,"lat":41.6179,"lon":-112.5516},"counts":{"claims":1,"history":1,"legends":0,"entities":0,"sources":1}}