Curated OER
Educational Technology Clearinghouse: Maps Etc: Railroads in United States, 1910
A map from 1910 of the United States showing the railway network and connecting steamship lines. This map distinguishes the transcontinental railroads and secondary lines, and shows the standardized time zones used in 1910. The clock...
Utah Education Network
Uen: Blast Through the Past: Transportation & Movement in Utah [Pdf]
Fourth graders will discuss the different types of transportation prior to the transcontinental railroad. They will also write an essay using the information discussed to present the pros and cons of transporting eggs to big cities by...
Museum of the City of San Francisco
Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco: Driving the Last Spike
Provides a short description of the development of the transcontinental railroad and the "Big Four" behind the construction. From the San Francisco News Letter of September 1925.
Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum
Cprr History Museum: Abstract From the 1862 Annual Report
Here is the explanation of how the land grants given to the railroads through the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 worked in the text from the General Land Office to the Department of the Interior.
Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum
Cprr History Museum: Chinese Laborers and Construction of the Central Pacific
An article from the Utah Quarterly, Vol. 37, No. 1, by George Kraus, recounts the decision to use Chinese laborers in building the Central Pacific Railroad. Many primary source documents included as well as supplemental direct quotes in...
Other
Paul Yee: 'Ghost Train' Teaching Guide [Pdf]
This teaching guide provided by Paul Yee for his book "Ghost Train" provides a summary of the story, discussion questions and classroom activities. The book explores the Chinese-Canadians' perspective on settling in a new country, and...
PBS
Pbs the West: The Grandest Enterprise Under God
The critically acclaimed PBS series, "The West," depicts the coming of the railroad throughout the west and the consequences of the settling of the west.
US National Archives
Our Documents: Pacific Railway Act (1862)
Contains images of the original document and a transcript of the complete text of the Pacific Railway Act of 1862 in an easy to read format. Also contains a brief overview on the background behind this act.
New York Times
New York Times: On This Day: Credit Moibiler Scandal
See a political cartoon of Thomas Nast decrying the Credit Mobilier scandal, and read a concise account of what it was, who was involved, and why it was such a scandal.
PBS
Pbs: New Perspectives on the West
This in-depth resource presents a history of the American West from pre-Columbian times until World War I with profiles, documents, and images. It encourages visitors to link these into patterns of historical meaning for themselves....
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: Balancing Sources
This is from an American history course designed for teachers to enrich their knowledge and their teaching practice. This interactive is a set of nine exercises where teachers evaluate primary resources related to a specific event in...
Curated OER
Photo of Mark Hopkins the Railroad Magnate
Provides a short description of the development of the transcontinental railroad and the "Big Four" behind the construction. From the San Francisco News Letter of September 1925.
Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum
Cprr History Museum: Eastward to Promontory
This site from the Central Pacific Railroad provides an extensive and comprehensive article about surveying the route for the railroad, the problems with construction, and the men behind the idea of the railroad. Hyperlinks to additional...
Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum
Cprr History Museum: A History of the Chinese in California: A Syllabus
From a 1969 publication by the Chinese Historical Society of America comes this extensive look at the Chinese role in the building of the Central Pacific Railroad from California east to Utah.
Chicago History Museum
Chicago History Museum: Pullman Luxury Rail Car
Read about the luxurious rail car George Pullman introduced that made transcontinental rail travel so desirable.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: The Era of Expansion and Reform
Information about the period in United States history between the Civil War and World War I. The United States was transformed from a rural republic to an urban state.
Library of Congress
Loc: Today in History: May 10: Jefferson Davis & "Wedding of the Rails"
Library of Congress presents primary source documents, essays, photos and maps of historical events on May 10th including a ceremony at Promontory Point, Utah for the meeting of the Union Pacific and Central railways and the capture of...
Digital History
Digital History: Civil War in Kansas [Pdf]
The Compromise of 1850 did not solve all the slavery issues in the territories, which was not surprising. Read about the Kansas-Nebraska Act, put forth by Sen. Stephan Douglas, who proposed that the issue be decided by popular...
Digital History
Digital History: The Industrial Revolution [Pdf]
This site covers both the initial Industrial Revolution in the United States in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and the second revolution that highlighted new inventions and the businessmen who financed industry. Read brief...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Ap Us History: 1865 1898: Chinese Immigrants and Mexican Americans
Discusses the conflict with Mexican American and Chinese groups as white settlers pushed westward in the nineteenth century. Explains what brought so many Chinese immigrants to America and the roadblocks and discrimination that they had...
A&E Television
History.com: 10 World Engineering Marvels
These remarkable feats of design and construction transformed the ways that people travel, communicate and live. For thousands of years, mankind has engineered remarkable structures such as the pyramids of Egypt and the Great Wall of...
Curated OER
First Train
A brief discussion of the concept of a transcontinental railroad with hyperlinks to other articles on this large website.
Curated OER
Hart 349a
From a book "The First Transcontinental Railroad" by John Debo Galloway, a civil engineer, comes this comprehensive description of the topography of the route of the Central Pacific Railroad.
Curated OER
The Locomotive Governor Stanford
Provides a short description of the development of the transcontinental railroad and the "Big Four" behind the construction. From the San Francisco News Letter of September 1925.