Business Industry | Building Project

The Transcontinental Railroad

Credit: Underwood Archives/Archive Photos/Getty Images
On May 10, 1869, the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific Railroads met at Promontory Point, Utah after seven years of work.
Railroad camps cropped up along the route of the Transcontinental Railroad as it made its way across the United States in the 1860s.

In the mid-1800s, as the Transcontinental Railroad inched its way across the American West, towns began popping up along the tracks. Cheyenne, Wyoming; Reno, Nevada; Oakland, California; -they may be big cities today, but back then these were small communities founded by railroad workers as well as farmers intent on utilizing the West's open spaces and the convenience of the railroad to transport their goods. Shopkeepers and other entrepreneurs found opportunity in these start-up towns-along with the drifters and profiteers these places notoriously attracted. Saloons and brothels popped up faster than the permanent residents could stop them. The likes of Jesse James and Butch Cassidy slipped into these towns undetected after robbing the trains, blending in with the people who frequented the saloons. Even though law and order ultimately prevailed, the sheriff vs. outlaw legends remain today, endowing these places with a sense of history and character.

Credit: Underwood Archives/Archive Photos/Getty Images
On May 10, 1869, the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific Railroads met at Promontory Summit, Utah after seven years of work.

 

Credit: Library of Congress Photo Collection, 1840-2000/Ancestry.com
"The Goliath," an engine belonging to the Central Pacific Railroad, was seen frequently along the Truckee River in Reno, Nevada.

 

Credit: MPI/Archive Photos/Getty Images
The men who worked on the railroads were often rowdy and tough, a temperament suited to the work they did. The camps they lived in were nicknamed "Hell on Wheels" by newspaper writer Samuel Bowles.

 

Credit: PhotoQuest/Archive Photos/Getty Images
Railroad camps popped up across the western United States as the railroad progressed. Some camps turned into permanent settlements, like Ogden, Utah.