The Pacific Southwest Railway Museum Association (PSRM), a San Diego-area historical and educational nonprofit, recently hosted a Centennial Gala Dinner celebrating the 100-year anniversary of the completion of the San Diego & Arizona Railway (SD&A) at the John D. Spreckels Center in Coronado.
The construction of the SD&A was financed by San Diego entrepreneur and philanthropist John D. Spreckels at a cost of $18 million, or roughly $123,000 per mile. On Nov. 15, 1919, Spreckels himself drove the final “gold spike,” which was on display at the Gala Dinner, held Nov. 1.
Also at the dinner, several descendants of John D. Spreckels attended and posed for a photo.
Sandra Bonura, an author and historian who organized a Spreckels family reunion in 2018, recently completed a book called “San Diego’s Forgotten Empire: The Legacy of John Diedrich Spreckels.” Bonura’s book, published by University of Nebraska Academic Press, will be available in 2020.
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