Sayre, Pennsylvania: The Lehigh Valley Railroad Town

Sayre came into being after the Civil War as a railroad town, named for Robert H. Sayre, a Lehigh Valley Railroad official. The Lehigh reached here in the eighteen seventies and made Sayre one of the most important division points on its mainline route between New York City and Buffalo.

At its height, the Lehigh Valley's operations in Sayre were nearly self-contained: the company is remembered for providing much of the town's own infrastructure and for sponsoring athletic teams. The railroad was the town's dominant employer for the better part of a century. A local museum today preserves the town's rail history.