1885: The Last Spike - Uniting Communities West to East

The Last Spike was the nail driven into the ground to complete the Canadian Pacific Railway near Revelstoke, B.C. on November 7, 1885. Canada was less than 20 years old at the time, and the completion became a symbol of national unity because finally we were linked together from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

The CPR was built through swamps and mountain ranges, in blistering heat and frigid winters. A heavy toll was paid in lost lives as workers blasted their way through kilometres of rock and endured cave-ins, landslides and avalanches. It was truly a wonder of engineering. Today, there is a rest stop on the Trans-Canada Highway 45 km west of Revelstoke where a monument marks the site.