First Transcontinental Railroad - Auburn

The money and the men arrive in the same sentence. Tracks reached Auburn on 13 May 1865 after an eleven-month delay, and government loans became available once the railroad had its first forty miles finished, four miles east of here. With the new funds, the bronze says, Central Pacific augmented its forces with the first Chinese laborers and work began again in earnest. Those workers took the line over the Sierra, and this is where the state's plaques first name them.

What the plaque says

FIRST TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD AUBURN AFTER AN ELEVEN-MONTH DELAY DUE TO POLITICAL OPPOSITION AND LACK OF MONEY, CENTRAL PACIFIC TRACKS REACHED AUBURN MAY 13, 1865, AND REGULAR SERVICE BEGAN. GOVERNMENT LOANS BECAME AVAILABLE WHEN THE RAILROAD COMPLETED ITS FIRST 40 MILES, FOUR MILES EAST OF HERE. WITH NEW FUNDS, CENTRAL PACIFIC AUGMENTED ITS FORCES WITH THE FIRST CHINESE LABORERS AND WORK BEGAN AGAIN IN EARNEST. CALIFORNIA REGISTERED HISTORICAL LANDMARK NO. 780-4 PLAQUE PLACED BY THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION IN COOPERATION WITH THE CONFERENCE OF CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL SOCIETIES AND THE PLACER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. MAY 9, 1969

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park — 12 mi
  The tailrace at Coloma where a carpenter found gold in January 1848 and the world came running.
• Empire Mine State Historic Park — 21 mi
  The oldest, deepest, richest hard-rock gold mine in California, with 367 miles of flooded tunnels underneath.
• Sacramento — 32 mi
  The Gold Rush river port that became the state capital, and jacked itself ten feet into the air to stop drowning.

More markers nearby

• City of Auburn — 0.8 mi
• Mountain Quarries Railroad Bridge — 1.6 mi
• Ophir — 3.2 mi
• First Transcontinental Railroad - Newcastle — 4.1 mi