On May 10, 1869 the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads were connected at Promontory Point, Utah on the northern end of Great Salt Lake. A golden spike was driven in the ties to commemorate the first transcontinental railroad in the United States. The event was broadcast around the world with telegraph wires wrapped around the spike and sledgehammer transmitting the impact instantaneously. With the country now joined, a new era of commerce and travel began…along with accelerated pollution and destruction.