FREE: 1944 3c First Transcontinental Railroad - US # 922 - SASE

The listing, 1944 3c First Transcontinental Railroad - US # 922 - SASE has ended.

1944 3c First Transcontinental Railroad - US # 922 - Used
Issue Date: May 10, 1944
City: Omaha, NE; Ogden, UT; San Francisco, CA
Printed by: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method: Rotary Press
Perforations: 11 x 10.5
Color: Violet

Issued to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. The stamp design selected by President Franklin Roosevelt pictures the ceremony that was held on May 10, 1869, at Promontory, Utah.

Once the stamp was released, the public noticed an error in its design. The stamp pictured the flag blowing in a different direction than the smoke. Many expected the stamp to be recalled, but the Post Office Department explained that the flag had to be shown waving in that direction, otherwise, it would have been outside of the stamp design.

The First Transcontinental Railroad
In 1862, Congress passed the Pacific Railroad Act. This act gave the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroad companies the responsibility of creating a transcontinental railroad route, roughly following the 42nd parallel from Omaha, Nebraska, to Sacramento, California. Railroad lines in Chicago were to be extended to meet the new railroad in Omaha. Central Pacific began laying tracks eastward from Sacramento in 1863. Central Pacific began working westward from Omaha in 1865. For their efforts, Congress granted these railroad companies large tracts of land and millions of dollars in loans.
*Shipping Self Addressed Stamped Envelope (SASE)