SALT LAKE CITY — Today, at the Kentucky studio of sculptor Douwe Blumberg, a crane gently lifted a gold spike measuring 43.3 feet long and weighing just under 7,000 pounds, onto a decorated semitrailer. The spike, commissioned by Utah’s Golden Spike Foundation, is a new memorial commemorating the workers who built the Transcontinental Railroad. Starting Oct. 5, the spike will travel to Utah making nine event stops en route. Ultimately, this new piece of public art will be installed in Golden Spike Park at Reeder Ranch, in Box Elder County, Utah, outside of Brigham City along Interstate 15.
Along the route to Utah, the golden spike will make stops at:
- Oct. 5: Kickoff event – The Henry Clay Estate, Lexington, Ky.
- Oct. 7: Whistle stop – St. Louis Union Station, St. Louis, Mo.
- Oct. 8: Whistle stop – Union Station Kansas City, Kansas City, Mo.
- Oct. 14: Whistle stop – Union Pacific Railroad Museum, Council Bluffs, Iowa
- Oct. 15: Whistle stop – Golden Spike Tower, North Platte, Neb.
- Oct. 17: Whistle stop – Colorado Railroad Museum, Golden, Colo.
- Oct. 21: Whistle stop – Cheyenne Depot Museum, Cheyenne, Wyo.
- Oct. 23: Whistle stop – Community Art Center, Rock Springs, Wyo.
- Oct. 24: Welcome event – Utah state capitol, Salt Lake City, Utah
Until the Transcontinental Railroad’s 150th anniversary in 2019, the complete story of the railroad’s construction had gone largely untold. The contribution of the thousands of workers had been ignored. The Golden Spike Foundation, who organized the Spike 150 celebration in Utah, wanted to ensure the entire story was told. After the celebration, the foundation commissioned Douwe Blumberg to build the Golden Spike Monument as a way to continue telling this remarkable and relatable story through public art.
The new monument, which took 28 months to craft, portrays images of railroad workers in bas-reliefs along the four sides of the giant golden spike. According to Blumberg, the artwork is intended to “give faces to the faceless” and celebrate the building of the railroad from the perspective of those who contributed so much to the triumphant feat. The workers, many of whom were immigrants attracted by steady employment, did back-breaking work, made horrific sacrifices, and used ingenuity to make the railroad a reality.
The faces of 74 people appear on the monument. Blumberg drew them from diverse backgrounds after consulting with Transcontinental Railroad historians, groups representing railroad workers, and conducting his own research. The faces include Chinese laborers from the Central Pacific Railroad, Civil War veterans, newly freed African-Americans, Irish and other immigrants, and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
An aluminum interior structure supports the new golden spike. The exterior is clad with gold leaf and coated with a thick, protective wax. Why was 43.3 feet chosen as the height of the monument? That happens to be the square root of 1869, the year the Transcontinental Railroad was completed. This is just another uncoverable fact that lies within the new artwork’s story.
As an artist, Blumberg has completed more than 200 private and public commissions. His work has garnered numerous awards. Past commissions include: the Las Vegas Veterans Memorial, and the “America’s Response” Special Operations Monument placed near Ground Zero in New York. Blumberg was born in Los Angeles and studied at California’s Idyllwild School of the Arts and Music. He was among 229 artists who submitted proposals for the monument. Artists in 39 U.S. states, Canada, France, Japan, and Spain expressed interest in completing the commission.
