Railroad magnate Jay Gould's private railroad car has been restored to its plush 1888 condition, a true piece of history, it's ironic that the Atalanta ended up in Jefferson, TX. Stories about the history of Jefferson include that the town rejected a proposal for his railroad to come through, and that Jay Gould angered by the lukewarm response of Jefferson civic leaders to the railroad, deliberately bypassed the town and wrote in the register of the Excelsior Hotel that it would mean "the end of Jefferson." and packed his bags for Dallas/Fort Worth. In refusing to meet the requirements of free right of way for my railroad, Jefferson pronounces the town's doom. I will build around here, grass will grow in her streets, and bats will dwell in her vacant houses." His extravagant railroad home rests in state across the street from the Excelsior House, which is the second-oldest hotel in continuous operation in Texas, the Excelsior was built in the 1850s by riverboat captain William Perry. Well-known guests have included Presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes. However the story of Gould’s prediction is another of the misconceptions that surround the history of Jefferson. In fact, reports that Gould placed a curse on the town are completely unfounded. He did not acquire the Texas and Pacific until the early 1880s and only visited the town much later. The rise of the railroads and the decline of the river traffic nevertheless had dire results for Jefferson.
This car is focal point of Jefferson’s Heritage.
Jefferson was also home to the state’s first artificial light street lamp and ice-making machine, though both are gone now.
I am a railfan and was in Jefferson looking for The Jefferson and Cypress Bayou Railroad, which operates a live steam, narrow gauge railway. I found the location and will return soon during its live steam operating hours to take a ride back in history. It was during this visit that I saw this piece of railroad history, Jay Gould’s Atalanta.
There is much to see and do in Jefferson to make it worth you while to visit this virtual cache.
Since I do not live in this area, I could not properly maintain this location as physical cache if it was possible to do so. I think all the adjacent property is private, thus a physical cache would not be allowed. If someone local would like to hide a physical cache nearby (within 0.1-0.5 mile) or use this as the first stage of a multicache, I would be most happy to archive this virtual cache to allow them to place their new cache.
Virtual Cache Logging Guidelines:
To verify your find, look for the historical marker near this site, send me email that lists the two dates in the bottom right corner and the date this car was moved to this site. I am allowed to delete any “find” logs which appear to be bogus, counterfeit, off topic, or not within the stated requirements. Logging a virtual cache find requires compliance with the requirements stated by the poster, including answering the required questions by e-mail to the poster, providing original photos if so requested, etc.Answers to questions, hints or clues should not be placed in the logs, even if encrypted. Also photos that would be a spoiler should not be uploaded to your log of the cache.
St. Louis Area Geocaching Association.
