Historical Marker
First Transcontinental Railroad - Roseville
Roseville, Placer County · California
Erected by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the Conference of California Historical Societies and the Placer County Historical Society, 1969
The railroad crossed another railroad here and outlived it. Central Pacific graders reached the place then called Junction on 29 November 1863, cutting across the California Central, which had been building north from Folsom since May 1858 and was abandoned in 1868. Track arrived the following April and trains ran the eighteen miles to Sacramento daily. Junction became Roseville and then a major distribution yard. The register says the twenty-third; the bronze says the twenty-ninth.
What the plaque says
FIRST TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD ROSEVILLE CENTRAL PACIFIC GRADERS REACHED JUNCTION, NOW ROSEVILLE, NOVEMBER 29, 1863, CROSSING THE LINE OF THE CALIFORNIA CENTRAL, WHICH BEGAN BUILDING NORTHWARD FROM FOLSOM IN MAY, 1858. THAT LINE WAS ABANDONED IN 1868. CP'S TRACK REACHED JUNCTION APRIL 25, 1864, WHEN TRAINS BEGAN MAKING DAILY RUNS 18 MILES TO AND FROM SACRAMENTO. NOW ROSEVILLE IS A MAJOR RAILROAD DISTRIBUTION CENTER. CALIFORNIA REGISTERED HISTORICAL LANDMARK NO. 780-1 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
38.75113, -121.28578 · Directions
Worth the stop nearby
- Sacramento — 17 miThe Gold Rush river port that became the state capital, and jacked itself ten feet into the air to stop drowning.
- Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park — 22 miThe tailrace at Coloma where a carpenter found gold in January 1848 and the world came running.