Gold Run in Placer County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)

Chinese Railroad Workers

Photographed by Syd Whittle, October 20, 2009

1. Chinese Railroad Workers Marker

Inscription. About 1000 feet from this location is the track of the Transcontinental Railroad. In 1865 thousands of Chinese in Kwantung Provence China were recruited to work on this great connection between the East and West Coast . This monument is dedicated to the memory of those Chinese laborers who worked for Charles Crocker of the Central Pacific Railroad.

Erected 2009 by The State Department of Transportation and the Placer County Historical Society, July 3, 2009.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Railroads & Streetcars. In addition, it is included in the Chinese Heritage Sites of the American West, and the First Transcontinental Railroad series lists.

Location. 39° 10.791′ N, 120° 51.077′ W. Marker is in Gold Run, California, in Placer County. It is on Interstate 80. Marker is located at the Gold Run Safety Rest Area - Eastbound Interstate 80 between Sawmill and Gold Run Overcrossings. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Gold Run CA 95717, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in California’s Sacramento Metro,

in the Sierra Nevada,

and in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

It is also in the American Mountain West.

Globally, it is in North America,

on the Ring of Fire,

in the Pacific Rim,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain

and also Mexico’s Alta California.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 7 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Hydraulic Mining (approx. ¼ mile away); Gold Run (approx. half a mile

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away); Adobe Store Building (approx. 1.8 miles away); Dutch Flat (approx. 2 miles away); The Stevens Trail (approx. 5 miles away); Iowa Hill (approx. 5.1 miles away); Cape Horn Promontory (approx. 5.2 miles away); Truckee Trail - Forks Right & Left (approx. 6½ miles away).

Regarding Chinese Railroad Workers. See Cape Horn Promontory Nearby Marker for additional information.

Also see . . . Chinese-American Contribution to the Transcontinental Railroad. This article by the Central Pacific Railroad Museum details the history of the Chinese laborer and their contribution to the building of the Transcontinental Railroad over the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California - complete with several vintage photos. (Submitted on October 21, 2009, by Syd Whittle of Mesa, Arizona.)

Additional keywords. Chinese-Americans, Transcontinental Railroad

Photographed by Syd Whittle, October 20, 2009

2. Chinese Railroad Workers Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on September 18, 2020. It was originally submitted on October 21, 2009, by Syd Whittle of Mesa, Arizona. This page has been viewed 3,901 times since then and 49 times this year. Last updated on October 27, 2011, by Phil Sexton of Sacramento, California. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on October 21, 2009, by Syd Whittle of Mesa, Arizona.