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The Golden Spike Monument in Council Bluffs, Iowa, was erected in 1939 as a concrete monument for the region's Golden Spike Days celebration. Sources give its height as 56 to 59 feet.
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World's Largest Golden Spike
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Site-level location · 41.2270° N, 95.8608° W
FIELD GUIDE
The story
A gold-painted concrete railroad spike, listed at 56 or 59 feet tall, was built to mark Mile Zero of the Union Pacific Railroad in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Council Bluffs' tourism site says the monument was designed by the city engineer and went up in 1939 during Golden Spike Days, which marked the 70th anniversary of the driving of the golden spike at Promontory Summit, Utah, on May 10, 1869. It describes the spot as Mile Zero, the eastern terminus of the Union Pacific. The Kansas City Fed says promoters unveiled the monument on April 28, 1939, next to Union Pacific's main rail yard, during a celebration that President Franklin D. Roosevelt kicked off by telegraph. The same day, across the river in Omaha, brought the world premiere of Cecil B. DeMille's film "Union Pacific".
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WHAT TO EXPECT
An outdoor monument in Council Bluffs. Admission, hours and access terms are not documented in the sources reviewed; check locally before visiting.
ACCESS
S 21st St at 9th Ave, Council Bluffs, IA.
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