Terminal of California's First Passenger Railroad

Theodore Judah surveyed these twenty-two miles, and they are the reason for most of what followed. Completion was celebrated at this end on 22 February 1856. Judah went from here into the Sierra looking for a grade a locomotive could climb, found one, sold the idea to four Sacramento shopkeepers, then fell out with them over control of the company. He died of yellow fever crossing Panama in 1863, aged thirty-seven, six years before the golden spike.

What the plaque says

Folsom Terminal California's First Passenger Railroad Completion of the Sacramento Valley Railroad from Sacramento to Folsom was celebrated here February 22, 1856, by enthusiastic residents of both cities. The new line, 22 miles in length, was commenced February 12, 1855, and was built by Theodore Dehone Judah, noted pioneer engineer. Registered Historical Landmark No. 558 Plaque erected by the California State Park Commission in cooperation with the Sacramento County Historical Society, December 1956

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park — 19 mi
  The tailrace at Coloma where a carpenter found gold in January 1848 and the world came running.
• Sacramento — 19 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

• Folsom-Overland Pony Express Route in California — steps away
• Old Folsom Powerhouse — 0.4 mi
• Prairie City — 2.5 mi
• Coloma Road-Nimbus Dam — 3.5 mi