Ira Yale Sage

Colonel Ira Yale Sage (1848 – 1908) was an American civil engineer, railroad magnate, promoter, and former United States Army officer in Georgia, who became President of the Atlanta and Florida Railway. He was an early investor in the Southern Pacific Railroad and built its first line from Charlotte to Birmingham. Following the end of the American Civil War, he was the railroad engineer responsible for the construction of the tracks running from Atlanta to Washington D.C.. He also built the Sage Hill estate and became a member of the Social Register.

Notably, he was a member of the Yale family, benefactors of Yale University, and a cousin of Congressman Russell Sage, who helped organizing America's railroad and telegraph systems, leaving a fortune of about 70 million dollars at his death in 1906.