Northern Pacific Railroad Completion Site, Railroad completion site in Gold Creek, Montana, US.

The Northern Pacific Railroad Completion Site marks where the eastern and western rail sections met and joined in 1883. The 2.5-acre grounds sit where Independence Creek flows into the Clark Fork River and are accessed from Interstate 90.

The site marks the moment in 1883 when the two rail sections were joined, creating a complete transcontinental railway route. Former President Ulysses S. Grant and Northern Pacific president Henry Villard conducted the completion ceremony, making it a significant national event.

The ceremony on September 8, 1883 drew 300 guests on four trains from the east, among them Northern Pacific president Henry Villard, executive committee chairman Frederick Billings, and dignitaries from the United States, England, and Germany; a fifth train came from the west coast. The track already laid was torn up and relaid ceremonially for the event.

The site is easy to reach from Interstate 90, where a wooden sign marks the location. The riverside setting makes visiting pleasant, especially during dry and mild weather.

The final spike was not gold: it was the same iron spike driven at Carlton, Minnesota, thirteen years earlier to start construction. Villard, former President Ulysses S. Grant and Henry C. Davis, who had helped drive that first spike, hammered it in again on September 8, 1883.