Craigellachie, British Columbia
Craigellachie [ kɹəˈgɛləxi ] is a historic site in the Canadian province of British Columbia , a few miles west of Eagle Pass on the Trans-Canada Highway . The site is near the settlement of Malakwa in the Columbia-Shuswap Regional District .
The place was named after the village of Craigellachie on the River Spey in Scotland , home of the ancestors of George Stephen , the first President of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). Craigellachie became known as the place where the symbolic " last spike" of the Trans-Canadian Railroad was set. This was done on November 7th, 1885 by Donald Smith , one of the directors of the CPR. There were actually two last nails. Smith bent the first one and had to get a replacement. The section of the route at which this point is located is internally referred to as the Shuswap Subdivision .
At this point there is now a small tourist information center and a memorial stone on which the story of the "Last Nail" is described.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Shuswap Subdivision , (English)
Coordinates: 50 ° 58 ′ N , 118 ° 44 ′ W