ANCHORAGE, Alaska — More than a century ago, President Warren G. Harding symbolically marked the completion of the Alaska Railroad by driving a golden spike into place, an act that initiated a vital transportation system for extracting coal and other natural resources from the Alaskan wilderness.
Just days after this significant ceremony, Harding tragically passed away from a heart attack while returning to Washington, D.C. The golden spike, which weighs close to a pound and is valued at approximately $50,000, has remained privately owned outside Alaska since that time.
Currently, two prominent institutions in Alaska are working to reclaim this historic artifact. The Anchorage Museum, backed financially by the Alaska Railroad, plans to bid on the spike, which is set to be auctioned off on Friday in New York as part of the Christie’s Important Americana collection. Aaron Leggett, the museum’s senior curator focused on Alaska history and Indigenous cultures, emphasized the significance of the Alaska Railroad to the state and its largest city, Anchorage.
The 5 1/2-inch golden spike, currently owned by an anonymous resident of California since 1983, symbolizes more than just a ceremonial act. The Alaska Railroad was initially constructed, owned, and operated by the federal government before being sold to the state in 1985 for $22 million. The railway, which was established to develop the then-territory of Alaska, connected Seward—located on the southern coast—to Fairbanks, which lies 470 miles inland.
Construction of the railroad took place between 1914 and 1923, and experts like Meghan Clemens, the railroad’s director of external affairs, assert that building the rail tracks through Alaska’s rugged wilderness significantly transformed the state’s history over the last century. Alaska would not achieve statehood until 1959, and even today, the state’s extensive geography includes few highways; one of the busiest routes follows the same path as the railroad between Seward and Fairbanks. About 75% of Alaska’s population resides along this crucial rail belt.
According to Leggett, Anchorage’s development is fundamentally tied to the Alaska Railroad’s decision to designate the city as its headquarters. Despite Seward being a more practical choice, the government opted for a muddy plot along Ship Creek, which eventually grew into what is recognized as downtown Anchorage today.
U.S. Army Colonel Frederick Mears, who had previously worked as an engineer on the Panama Canal, was recruited by President Woodrow Wilson to lead the railroad project for the Alaska territory. In his 1913 State of the Union address, Wilson highlighted the railroad as critical for gaining access to Alaska’s rich mineral resources, including coal. As the project neared completion, Mears was dispatched to Seattle in March 1923, just four months before Harding’s notable visit to Alaska. Before departing, the city of Anchorage honored Mears with the golden spike for his contributions, which was later sent back to be used during Harding’s event in Nenana, a community located in interior Alaska.
During the formal ceremony on July 15, 1923, Harding gently struck the golden spike twice with a maul—a hammer that is now displayed behind glass at the railroad’s headquarters—before securing a standard spike in place. Shortly after this event, the spike was returned to Mears, who subsequently began his journey back to Washington. Tragically, Harding experienced a fatal heart attack and died in San Francisco on August 2, 1923.
Following that, the golden spike remained largely out of public view, with only a brief exhibition during the 1967 centenary celebrations of the U.S. purchase of Alaska from Russia. According to Christopher June, a junior specialist at Christie’s and an Anchorage native who recalls childhood field trips on the Alaska Railroad, the spike remains in excellent condition with minimal signs of wear. He remarked on the spike’s intrinsic importance to Alaska and expressed confidence that a local buyer might ultimately acquire it.
