Sayre, Pennsylvania

In May 1870, a Waverly banker named Howard Elmer, along with Charles Anthony and James Fritcher, bought the Pine Plains area between Waverly and Athens. Elmer convinced Asa Packer to locate a new railroad repair facility on the Pine Plains for the expanding Lehigh Valley Railroad, which was making a push north to connect to the Erie Railroad at Waverly. Robert Heysham Sayre, president of the Pennsylvania and New York Railroad, helped cement the deal. The town was named in his honor. Sayre was incorporated on January 27, 1891.

In 1904 when the locomotive shops were built at Sayre, the main shop building was believed to be the largest structure in the world under one roof, but held that title for only a brief time. The railroad operated from 1870 until 1976, but maintenance facilities were shifted away before that. With the decline of industry, population has declined since 1940.

The Pennsylvania Guide, compiled by the Writers' Program of the Works Progress Administration, described Sayre in 1940 and emphasized the economic and social significance of the railroad, noting that Sayre:[4]

was a small railway settlement until the Lehigh Valley Railroad constructed a roundhouse and shops here in 1871 and named the place for Robert H. Sayre, superintendent of the road. On the left of the railroad tracks, which traverse the eastern section of the town, is a soot-blackened residential district. The triangular business center, though substantial, is also dingy. The Lehigh Valley Railroad Shops ... devoted to maintenance, repairs, and storage, employ more than 1,200 men and completely dominate Sayre's existence. Blue denim overalls and high-crowned railroaders' caps are everywhere in evidence.

— Federal Writers' Project, "Part III: Tours", Pennsylvania: A Guide to the Keystone State (1940)

Sayre is located at 41°59′1″N 76°31′15″W (41.983567, -76.520845)[5] in a river valley in the Allegheny Plateau just north of the confluence of the Susquehanna River and the Chemung River, along with Athens, Pennsylvania, South Waverly, Pennsylvania, and Waverly, New York. Together, these small towns make up the greater area known as the Penn-York Valley, or just "the Valley". The New York / Pennsylvania border cuts through the valley. There is no physical border between the towns, as the grid of streets and avenues blend seamlessly from one town to another. Sayre is bounded on the east and west by Athens Township, on the south by the borough of Athens, on the northwest by South Waverly, and on the north by Waverly, New York.

Pennsylvania Route 199 passes through the borough as Keystone Avenue, Mohawk Street, and Spring Street, ending at Interstate 86 just over the state line in Waverly, New York. Via I-86, it is 17 miles (27 km) northwest to Elmira, New York, and by New York State Route 17 (future I-86) it is 38 miles (61 km) east to Binghamton, New York.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 2.03 square miles (5.27 km²), of which 2.02 square miles (5.24 km²) is land and 0.02 square miles (0.04 km²), or 0.67%, is water.[6]

• Arcesia (John Anthony Arcesi), jazz singer
• Chuck Ciprich, race car driver
• Colleen Dominguez, ESPN reporter
• Peter Cacchione, communist labor leader who served on the New York City Council
• Donnie Guthrie, physician
• George Hennard, perpetrator of the Luby's shooting
• Cabot Lyford, sculptor born in Sayre in 1925[11]
• Red Murray, baseball player
• Erwin Rudolph, billiards player
• Robert S. Smith, priest
• Jeff Terpko, baseball player

Sayre has one bus service, BeST Transit. BeST Transit makes numerous stops in Waverly, Sayre, and Athens and provides service to Towanda, Wysox, Troy, Canton, and the Lycoming Mall.[12] Sayre and The Valley also have taxi service available through Valley Taxi. Pennsylvania Route 199 connects Sayre to Athens and Waverly.

Children residing in the borough are assigned to attend the Sayre Area School District.

Robert Packer Hospital was named after Robert Asa Packer, who came to Sayre when the town became the point of distribution for the Lehigh Valley Railroad's northern traffic. Shortly after his arrival, Packer invested in the Sayre Land Company and purchased 20 acres between Lockhart and Hayden Streets and between Wilbur Avenue and Hayden's Pond.

Sayre is home to the Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital and Guthrie Clinic.

Community organizations:

• Sayre Little League[13]
• Sayre Recreation Program[14]
• Big Brothers/Big Sisters
• 4H
• Community Service Club
• Sayre Library

The "horned giants" of Sayre is an urban legend concerning a series of skeletons that included a horned skull reportedly discovered during the 1880s by the then-state historian, Dr. G.P. Donehoo, and two visiting professors, A.B. Skinner and W.K. Moorehead while excavating a burial mound.[15][16] The skeletons were reported to be at or above 7 feet (2.1 m) in height, possessing skulls that had horn-like protuberances just above the eyebrows,[16] but were claimed to have been lost, misplaced, or stolen while en route to the American Investigation Museum.[17][18] Neither Donehoo, Skinner, nor Moorehead described the discovery of any human skeletons at Sayre exhibiting gigantism or horned protrusions in their official excavation reports[19][20][21]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sayre, Pennsylvania.

• Official website
• Morning Times, local newspaper
• Archives, Guthrie (2010). Guthrie: 100 Years of Health Care. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9780738572215.