Central Pacific Railroad Company
FIRST TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD (COMPLETED MAY 10, 1869)
The Central Pacific Railroad Company built the western portion of America’s First Transcontinental Railroad. They began work on October 26, 1863. The first group of 21 Chinese, under foreman Ah Toy and headman Hung Wah, arrived to work in January 1864. Over 12,000 Chinese (80% of Central Pacific workers) were hired to blast 15 tunnels through the Sierra Nevada Mountains and to build 690 miles of track from Sacramento, California to Promontory Summit, Utah.
(Drawing by Hannah Sinclair, SFSU 2017)