Editing Sayre, Pennsylvania (section)

== History ==

In 1783, Prince Bryant’s gristmill was founded within the Milltown section of what is now present-day Sayre. Prince Bryant's later became Shepards Mill in 1788 - the only mill between [[Binghamton]], NY and [[Wilkes-Barre]], PA. It served as a shipping point for oil, lumber and plaster by raft to settlements on the Susquehanna. Later, there were nine mills operating at Milltown.

The area of present day N. Keystone Avenue near the Sayre Borough / [[South Waverly]] Borough line was known by pioneers as the "Pine Plains." In 1790 [[Timothy Pickering]] met Red Jacket and his Senecas here. They were on the way to the peace council at Tioga Point - present day [[Athens]], PA. 

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 Railroad|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, the population has declined since 1940.

The [[American Guide Series|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:<ref name="nom">{{cite book |last=Federal Writers' Project |date=1940|edition= 1st |title=Pennsylvania: A Guide to the Keystone State |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=517}}</ref>{{Blockquote
|text=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.
|author=Federal Writers' Project|title="Part III: Tours"  |source=''Pennsylvania: A Guide to the Keystone State'' (1940)
}}