The economy is now centered on agriculture, but there is also a rocket testing facility in the area. Shoshone Indians already lived in the area, and numerous violent incidents occurred until a treaty was negotiated in 1863. The first permanent white settlements were established in 1851 when Mormons moved north from the Salt Lake City area and settled in what are now Willard and Brigham City. The county itself is named for the numerous Box Elder trees that grow here in this part of the Great Basin. Celebrate Spike 150 and the anniversary of. That event took place at Promontory, Utah, about 32 miles west of the county seat of Brigham City, near the northern end of the Great Salt Lake. Golden Spike National Historic Site near Brigham City, Utah, marks an important moment in American History. It is named the Golden Spike Region because of the famous events of May 10, 1869, when the first transcontinental railroad was completed with the ceremonial driving of the golden spike. It includes cities like Brigham City, Tremonton, Bear River City, Corinne, and others. A full re-enactment of the original ceremony is held on May 10th each year but locomotives are in operation every day from May to September, and at other times can be viewed in the engine shed.The Golden Spike region of the Bear River Heritage Area consists of Box Elder County, Utah, located in the eastern portion of the Great Basin. 119) were scrapped in the early 1900s so instead two brightly colored replicas, built in 1979, make the short journey from an engine shed just out of sight behind a nearby hill, to the track beside the center, where they meet at the exact completion spot, accompanied by workers in period costume. Golden Spike State Bank in cityname, statename - US Bank Profiles - Detailed Financial Reports, Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Aggregated Statistics. The original steam trains that first traveled on the completed line (Central Pacific Jupiter and Union Pacific No. The paved road ends at the Golden Spike visitor center, park headquarters and restored railway, near which are a few old wagons and pieces of machinery, but there isn't much original equipment on view apart from in the museum. The surroundings are grassy, empty though privately owned, used for cattle ranching a few side tracks branch off including one to remote Locomotive Springs, an important riparian area. On the far side of the highway, the CP line is used by the East Grade Auto Tour, a one-way, 2 mile section open to vehicles (no RVs).Īfter the Big Fill trailhead, the highway climbs a little more up to a wide plateau, becomes quite straight, and heads due west, parallel to the two sets of tracks. The UP line crossed the ravine via a 400 foot long wooden bridge (the Big Trestle), long since removed, but the abutments at each end can still be seen. Both railroad beds cross the same grassy hillside, past rocky outcrops, through several small cuts and over a few lesser fills. The path follows the upper line (Central Pacific) to the fill - a particularly large embankment over a wide ravine - then returns a short distance to the south along the thinner, more eroded Union Pacific line. The first point of interest in the National Historic Site is the 1.5 mile (loop) Big Fill Trail, which tours parts of both the competing rail lines, each clearly visible as they cross the road from north to south. The steep terrain slowed down traffic such that the 140 mile journey between Ogden and the Nevada stateline took 36 hours, hence it soon became clear that a flatter, more direct route was needed, and the line was in operation for only 35 years before being abandoned, replaced by the Lucin Cutoff to the south, a route still used by the present day Southern Pacific railroad. Twenty miles from I-15, a left turn leads to the NHS (see map), first passing another little-traveled side road to Promontory Point, then climbing a little into a seemingly benign range of low, grassy mountains, yet these were tall enough to provide a significant obstruction to the railway, requiring wide curves and steep grades, approaching the 2% maximum and necessitating use of helper engines, known as hogs, to push the trains uphill. Apart from the park, the only site receiving much traffic hereabouts is the ATK Aerospace Center (a rocket research facility) - otherwise, development is limited to a few scattered ranches. The main to approach Golden Spike NHS is from I-15 near Brigham City along Hwy 83, which heads west along the edge of the vast Great Salt Lake basin the land is flat, salty and marshy to the south, hilly to the north.

Golden spike tremonton