Disneyland - Golden Spike
Posted by: 
DougK
N 33° 48.780 W 117° 55.140
11S E 414945 N 3741801
This surveyor's mark, known as the "Golden Spike", marks what was mistakenly thought to be the geographical center of Disneyland when it first opened. It is an alignment marker for Main Street with the castle's drawbridge.
Waymark Code: WMT01Z
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 08/31/2016
Views: 31
This small unmarked disc, about one inch in diameter, is located in the main walk through of the Disneyland Sleeping Beauty castle. It is centered in the walkway, close to the back, just before exiting the tunnel walk-through.
Wikipedia tells us:
At the rear of the castle, shaded by the archways and driven into the ground is a gold spike that is widely, but wrongly, believed to mark the geographical center of Disneyland as of the addition of Mickey's Toontown in 1993. In reality, the spike is a surveyor's mark that was used to ensure that the castle bridge and entrance lined up with Main Street USA when the park was first constructed. The original geographical center of the Magic Kingdom was in the middle of the round park, where the "Partners Statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse stands. The addition of Toontown moved the actual center of the park a few yards northward, but still on the hub side of the castle drawbridge.
The web site FindingMickey.com also pictures the golden spike, identifies it as a surveyor's mark and disclaims the story of it being the center of Disneyland.
Found just inside the entrance of Sleeping Beauty's Castle, it's believed that this golden spike marks the geographic center of Disneyland. However, the spike was really placed there as a surveyor's mark, ensuring that Main Street is centered to the castle's drawbridge.
The two main markers of Main Street are the Main Street flagpole at the north end and the Partners Statue at the south end. The longitude of the Golden Spike survey point is in exact alignment with the two main street markers, thus keeping the castle drawbridge in alignment with Main Street.
An even more detailed study of this spike can be found at this website.
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