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External Websites
The following external websites contain primary and secondary source materials related to the Pacific Railway Act and the first transcontinental railroad.
National Archives and Records Administration. A complete digital copy of the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862, which established the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean.
This virtual museum contains a large collection of primary source materials, including photographs, illustrations, government documents, maps, and first person accounts.
This digital photo‐archive consists of images by photographer Andrew J. Russell, taken during the construction of the transcontinental railway in the 1860s. Russell was one of two photographers commissioned by the two railroad companies doing the construction. In total there were nearly 1300 images taken by these photographers. These negatives come from the collection of the Oakland Museum in California. It is these images that comprise the collection here in the University of Florida’s digital collections.
DocsTeach is a product of the National Archives education division and is made possible in part through the National Archives Foundation. The site provides access to primary source materials related to the Pacific Railway Act.