A 43-foot golden spike commemorating the hard work of transcontinental railroad workers has arrived in Salt Lake City, Utah.
According to The Salt Lake Tribune, the spike is a replica of a much smaller golden spike that was built to celebrate the competition the transcontinental railroad at Promontory, Utah, on May 10, 1869.
The new spike is 92 times the original’s size and will eventually be installed at the Golden Spike Park in Box Elder County, Utah. It has been on a multi-city national tour for the past month, KSL reports.
The Golden Spike Foundation commissioned the piece. It was created over a 28-month period by Kentucky artist Douwe Blumberg.
“So many stories here. Some we know, big names, some we’ll never know swinging pickaxes in the desert,” Blumberg told WKYT.
Several Chinese Americans were present when the spike arrived in Utah at the Capitol Building.
“We’ve been waiting for three years, and finally it is here,” Margaret Yee, chairperson of the Chinese Railroad Workers Descendants Association, told The Salt Lake Tribune.
Yee, who wore a gold blazer to celebrate the moment, added that Chinese Americans are “proud of our ancestors.”
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