🇺🇸 WEEKLY AMERICAN HERITAGE: Golden Spike National Historical Park

(Explore the history and landscape of the United States with us as we approach the 250th anniversary of American Independence. Get out your homeschool atlas and almanac and follow along!)

Utah is our homeschool state-of-the-week, so why not spend a few minutes today with your students learning about one of Utah’s most important historical places: Golden Spike National Historical Park, which commemorates the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 at Promontory Summit, Utah.

“One of the greatest technological achievements of the 19th century is the completion of the first transcontinental railroad across the United States. Visitors to the park can see the location of the Last Spike Site, 1869 railroad construction features, walk or drive on the original railroad grade, and get an up close view of Victorian era replica locomotives.”

Promontory Summit in northern Utah has experienced a rich, colorful history, yet it remains a paradox. The area has seen boom and bust. It has been famous world-over, yet remains anonymous in many ways, The “Last Spike Site” is an honored and celebrated place, but it has also been quite infamous. The completion of the country’s first transcontinental railroad and the “Wedding of the Rails Ceremony” commemorating this historic event, are taught to virtually every American child in basic U.S. history classes. However, few people know where these events really happened. Many historians point to the “Last Spike Site” as the single most important site in our country west of Independence Hall. Yet, this significant site lay virtually abandoned and ignored for almost a century.

It took 96 years after the completion of the transcontinental railroad for the site to gain its rightful place in history. The transcontinental line was completed May 10, 1869, but it wasn’t until July 30, 1965, that the U.S. government showed a tangible interest in protecting and preserving this important piece of our history and heritage. It was on July 30, 1965, that Golden Spike National Historical Park was established under the protection of the National Park Service. This recognition of the site’s importance came only after 38 long years of struggle by Bernice Gibbs Anderson, who ceaselessly campaigned for the site to take its rightful place in history, be given the protection it deserves, and to have its story told. (nps.gov)

You can find a wealth of additional information about the Park’s history, landscape, location(s), and visitor facilities on the webpage for Golden Spike National Historical Park from the National Park Service, and also on the Park’s page on Wikipedia.

Explore America’s National Parks, National Historical Parks, National Historic Sites, National Monuments, and more via Wikipedia and via the U.S. National Park Service’s website today.

What American treasures will you and your students be exploring in your homeschool this Hercules Term? 🇺🇸

❡ The great globe itself: This is one of our regular Homeschool Geography posts featuring important natural and historical sites in the United States. Print your own copy of our River Houses American Heritage Calendar and follow along with us, and add your name to our weekly mailing list to get great homeschool teaching ideas delivered right to your mailbox all through the year. 🌎

❡ We set to-day a votive stone: If you want a great long-term history and geography project for your homeschool, explore the Historical Marker Database online (hmdb.org) and make a plan to find all the markers that are listed in your local area. Add any new ones you know of that are missing, and add new photos or descriptions for the ones already included. Your students will gain a better appreciation for your local community and will learn a wealth of new information about history and geography. 🏛

❡ Print this little lesson: Down at the bottom of this post you’ll find a special “Print” button that will let you create a neat and easy-to-read copy of this little lesson, and it will even let you edit and delete sections you don’t want or need (such as individual images or footnotes). Give it a try today! 🖨

❡ Books in the running brooks: You can always turn to your River Houses atlas and almanac for more information about any of our homeschool states-of-the-week. The almanac has detailed profiles of all the U.S. states and territories, and the endpapers of the atlas are indexes that will show you where all of the individual national and regional maps may be found. 📚

❡ Homeschool calendars: We have a whole collection of free, printable, educational homeschool calendars and planners available on our main River Houses calendar page. They will help you create a light and easy structure for your homeschool year. Give them a try today! 🗓

❡ Support our work: If you enjoy our educational materials, please support us by starting your regular Amazon shopping from our very own homeschool teaching supplies page. When you click through from our page, any purchase you make earns us a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for helping us to keep going and growing! 🛒

❡ Join us! The aim of the River Houses project is to create a network of friendly local homeschool support groups — local chapters that we call “Houses.” Our first at-large chapter, Headwaters House, is now forming and is open to homeschoolers everywhere. Find out how to become one of our founding members on the Headwaters House membership page. 🏡