The Transcontinental Railroad in Utah lecture given by Daniel Davis

Park City Museum will host a lecture called The Transcontinental Railroad in Utah given by Daniel Davis on Wednesday, February 26^th from 5-6 p.m. at the Park City Museum Education and Collections Center located at 2079 Sidewinder Drive.

May 10, 2019 marks the 150th anniversary of the completion of the first North American transcontinental railroad. At a ceremony at Promontory Summit on May 10, 1869, the Union and Central Pacific Railroads joined and a solid gold railroad spike became the symbol for the completion of the railroad. What many people don’t know is that Utahns played a major role with the transcontinental railroad through investment, surveying, and labor. In turn, the railroad brought significant cultural, economic, and environmental changes to the state. Utah became more connected to the rest of the nation. Eastern goods could be shipped quickly and cheaply to Utah, and Utah could send products all over the country. The railroad also brought people of different religious faiths to the state and made it a more diverse place to live.

Daniel Davis grew up in Worland, Wyoming and attended the University of Wyoming earning a master’s degree in history in 1997. He worked as the photograph archivist at the American Heritage Center from 1996 to 2000. In 2000 he moved to Logan becoming the photograph curator with the Special Collections & Archives Department at Utah State University. He received tenure as an associate librarian in 2006. In 2014 he became the coordinator of instruction for Special Collections. His research interest is with 19th Century photographers of the American West and he has published in the Utah Historical Quarterly and the Annals of Wyoming. He lives with his wife Ashlee and daughter Emilee in Nibley, Utah.

Park City Museum will host A World Transformed: The Transcontinental Railroad and Utah exhibition created by The Merrill-Cazier Library  at Utah State University and the Utah Division of State History to celebrate the sesquicentennial of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad.   The exhibit will be on display from February 10^th to March 15^th.