Golden Spike National Historic Site is announced to be a U.S. National Historic Site. The attraction is situated at Promontory Summit, which is in the northern part of the Great Salt Lake of
Utah. The site memorializes the completion of the first Transcontinental Railroad. The Transcontinental rail road is the place where the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad met each other I the year 1869. The final union of the two rails covering the continent was marked by driving the traditional Golden Spike. It is now regarded as a tourist destination of Utah for its historical importance and scenic beauty.
The Golden Spike National Historic Site covers an area of about 2,735 acres of land. In the year 2002, the site received about 50,000 visitors. The site was certified as a National Historic site under non-federal possession. The site has a picturesque setting apart from the railroad. Thus the Salt Lake City administration was interested about its maintenance. An act passed by the Congress in 1965 authorized federal ownership to the site. In the year 1978, master plan was adopted for maintaining the picturesque scenery of the surrounding areas of the site.
In the year 2006, a petition was made to the Board on Geographic Names for changing the name of the Chinaman's Arch which is a 20 foot tall limestone arch located at Golden Spike. The arch was named as Chinaman's arch to honor the 19th century Chinese railroad workers. Now the arch is renamed as Chinese Arch.
