During construction of what became the Rutland Railroad, two important events occurred in Mount Holly. In 1848, a construction crew discovered the tusk and tooth of a woolly mammoth in a nearby wetland, and these are on display in the Community Historical Museum in Belmont Village. The second event occurred on December 18, 1849 near a highpoint on the rail line later called the Summit, where tracks being built simultaneously from Burlington and Boston connected as locomotives pulling trains with dignitaries from both cities met to drive the last spike. Water from Lake Champlain and Boston Harbor was mingled in front of the cowcatchers, and the occasion was celebrated with rum and local hard cider.