Built in 1888 by the American Car & Foundry Company of St. Charles, Missouri, the Atalanta was the private railway car of Jay Gould, a New York-born financier who owned numerous railroad companies, including the Union Pacific, the Missouri Pacific, the International & Great Northern, and the Texas Pacific. Elaborately designed and elegantly furnished, the car featured two observation rooms, four staterooms, two baths, a butler's pantry, kitchen, dining room, and office, with interior materials including mahogany and curly maple woodwork, silver bathroom accessories, and crystal light fixtures. After Jay Gould's death in 1892, the car was used by his son, George Jay Gould, president of the Texas and Pacific Railroad, and his wife, actress Edith Kingston. It remained in Gould family ownership until the 1930s, when it was brought to Texas from St. Louis and used as a family residence during the East Texas oil boom. Purchased in 1953 by the Jessie Allen Wise Garden Club, it was moved to this site in 1954 and remains a focal point in Jefferson's heritage tourism industry.