Golden Spike National Historical Park Superintendent Brandon Flint speaks during a June 25, 2022 unveiling ceremony for “Monument to Their Memory,” the newest sculpture at the park. The piece stands 24 feet high and was built to honor the workers from diverse backgrounds who completed the first transcontinental railroad near the modern-day park site. in 1869.
Courtesy Photo/Golden Spike National Historical Park
Golden Spike National Historical Park Superintendent Brandon Flint speaks during a June 25, 2022 unveiling ceremony for “Monument to Their Memory,” the newest sculpture at the park. The piece stands 24 feet high and was built to honor the workers from diverse backgrounds who completed the first transcontinental railroad near the modern-day park site. in 1869.
Courtesy Photo/Golden Spike National Historical Park
The newest monument standing at Box Elder County’s Golden Spike National Historical Park is, by design, one of the first things visitors to the park now see as they approach the site at Promontory Summit.
The 24-foot-high sculpture, entitled “Monument to Their Memory,” was built to honor all the railroad workers from many different cultures and backgrounds whose backbreaking efforts were crucial in the construction of the nation’s first transcontinental railroad.
The sculpture consists of metal rails crossed with granite “ties,” reaching into the sky in a curving shape to create the sensation that it is visually crossing the plains mountains on a viewer’s journey to the unknown.
It is the creation of artist Ilan Averbuch, who is known around the world for his outdoor art installments. Averbuch was selected more than a year ago to design the piece.
Taking shape this spring after the annual celebration of the completion of the transcontinental railroad, the piece was officially unveiled at a ceremony on June 25.
Dignitaries from the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone, as well as cultural groups representing the Irish, Chinese and others who built the railroad, were on hand to witness the spectacle.
According to park officials, the sculpture encourages viewers to think critically, and with emotion, about the complex history and its implications for the primarily immigrant labor force involved in its construction.
On May 10, 1869, a Golden Spike was ceremoniously driven into a polished laurel tie at Promontory Summit, Utah, linking two great oceans, uniting a Civil War-torn nation and propelling America to become a world leader. The events of May 10 and the driving of the golden spike marked the end of construction, but they are only a small part of the story of the building of the transcontinental railroad.
To build the 1,776 miles of railroad, the Union and Central Pacific Railroad Companies enlisted the help of tens of thousands of workers from across the country and world.
An estimated 10,000 to 20,000 Chinese immigrants were recruited by the Central Pacific Railroad to build the section from Sacramento, California, through the treacherous Sierra Mountains and then through the Nevada and Utah deserts to Promontory. Approximately 10,000 Irish workers had to overcome hostile weather, lack of supplies and suffering from dysentery to lay hundreds of miles of track for the Union Pacific.
While Chinese and Irish workers made up the largest parts of the workforce, they were joined by many others. African American workers, including some recently freed by the Emancipation Proclamation, toiled to move the tracks ever further west. Mormon workers organized by Brigham Young found themselves working for both competing railroads as they raced through Utah.
“The diverse workers of the railroad demonstrated to the world that great things are possible with vision, hard-work, dedication, and collaboration,” a press release from the park states. “The addition of this new artwork honors their legacy and will help give voice to these voiceless workers of the past.”
Golden Spike National Historical Park is located 32 miles west of Brigham City via state highways 13 and 83.
