Golden Spike ceremony

E193053

historical event railroad ceremony

The Golden Spike ceremony was the 1869 event at Promontory Summit, Utah, that marked the completion of the United States’ First Transcontinental Railroad by symbolically joining its eastern and western sections.

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All labels observed (7)

Label	Occurrences
Golden Spike ceremony canonical	6
Last Spike ceremony	2
Golden Spike	1
Golden Spike (artifact)	1
Golden Spike ceremony at Promontory Summit	1
Last Spike Ceremony	1
driving of the Golden Spike	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1742174 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Golden Spike ceremony
Context triple: [First Transcontinental Railroad, significantEvent, Golden Spike ceremony]

A. Golden Spike Tower
Golden Spike Tower is an observation tower and visitor attraction in North Platte, Nebraska, offering panoramic views of Union Pacific’s massive Bailey Yard, one of the world’s largest railroad classification yards.
B. Centennial Flame
The Centennial Flame is an eternal flame and fountain on Parliament Hill in Ottawa that commemorates the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation.
C. Golden Gate International Exposition
The Golden Gate International Exposition was a world’s fair held in San Francisco Bay in 1939–1940 to celebrate the completion of the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges and showcase Pacific Rim cultures and technological progress.
D. National Transcontinental Railway
The National Transcontinental Railway was a historic Canadian transcontinental rail line built in the early 20th century to link eastern and western Canada and later absorbed into the Canadian National Railway system.
E. California Pacific International Exposition
The California Pacific International Exposition was a 1935–1936 world's fair in San Diego that showcased art, architecture, and international exhibits to promote the city and its development.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Golden Spike ceremony
Target entity description: The Golden Spike ceremony was the 1869 event at Promontory Summit, Utah, that marked the completion of the United States’ First Transcontinental Railroad by symbolically joining its eastern and western sections.

A. Golden Spike Tower
Golden Spike Tower is an observation tower and visitor attraction in North Platte, Nebraska, offering panoramic views of Union Pacific’s massive Bailey Yard, one of the world’s largest railroad classification yards.
B. Centennial Flame
The Centennial Flame is an eternal flame and fountain on Parliament Hill in Ottawa that commemorates the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation.
C. Golden Gate International Exposition
The Golden Gate International Exposition was a world’s fair held in San Francisco Bay in 1939–1940 to celebrate the completion of the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges and showcase Pacific Rim cultures and technological progress.
D. National Transcontinental Railway
The National Transcontinental Railway was a historic Canadian transcontinental rail line built in the early 20th century to link eastern and western Canada and later absorbed into the Canadian National Railway system.
E. California Pacific International Exposition
The California Pacific International Exposition was a 1935–1936 world's fair in San Diego that showcased art, architecture, and international exhibits to promote the city and its development.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (45)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	historical event ⓘ railroad ceremony ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Driving of the Last Spike ⓘ Last Spike ceremony ⓘ linked to: Golden Spike ceremony
associatedSite	Golden Spike National Historical Park ⓘ
attendee	Grenville Dodge ⓘ Leland Stanford ⓘ Samuel S. Montague NERFINISHED ⓘ Thomas Durant ⓘ
celebratedBy	public gatherings across the United States via telegraph announcement ⓘ
commemoratedBy	annual reenactments at Promontory Summit ⓘ replica golden spikes ⓘ
commemorativeSpike	Arizona mixed precious metals spike ⓘ Nevada silver spike ⓘ golden spike from David Hewes of San Francisco ⓘ second California gold spike ⓘ
country	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
culturalMeaning	symbol of American westward expansion ⓘ symbol of the completion of Manifest Destiny-era continental linkage ⓘ
date	1869-05-10 ⓘ
formerAssociatedSiteName	Golden Spike National Historic Site ⓘ linked to: Golden Spike National Historical Park
impact	linked the eastern U.S. rail network with the Pacific coast by rail ⓘ reduced cross-country travel time in the United States from months to about a week ⓘ
location	Promontory Summit, Utah Territory ⓘ
numberOfCommemorativeSpikes	4 ⓘ
organizedBy	Central Pacific Railroad ⓘ Union Pacific Railroad ⓘ
presidedOverBy	Leland Stanford ⓘ
railConnectionType	coast-to-coast rail connection ⓘ
railroadEndpointEast	Union Pacific line from Omaha, Nebraska ⓘ linked to: Chicago–Omaha main line
railroadEndpointWest	Central Pacific line from Sacramento, California ⓘ
railroadJoined	Central Pacific Railroad ⓘ Union Pacific Railroad ⓘ
railroadProject	First Transcontinental Railroad ⓘ
relatedInfrastructure	Promontory Summit rail junction ⓘ
significance	marked completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States ⓘ symbolically joined the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad ⓘ
spikeMaterial	gold ⓘ
symbolUsed	golden spike ⓘ laurel wood railroad tie ⓘ
telegraphInvolved	yes ⓘ
telegraphMessageMeaning	announcement of completion of the transcontinental railroad ⓘ
telegraphMessageSent	DONE ⓘ
territorialStatusOfLocation	Utah Territory ⓘ
trackGauge	standard gauge ⓘ

How these facts were elicited