Robert Heysham Sayre (October 13, 1824 – January 4, 1907) was vice president and chief engineer of the

Lehigh Valley Railroad The Lehigh Valley Railroad was a railroad built in the Northeastern United States to haul anthracite coal from the Coal Region in Pennsylvania. The railroad was authorized on April 21, 1846 for freight and transportation of passengers, goods, w ...

. He was also vice president and general manager of Bethlehem Iron Company, precursor of

Bethlehem Steel Corporation The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succ ...

. The borough of

Sayre, Pennsylvania Sayre is a borough in Bradford County, Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is the principal city in the Sayre, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area. It lies 18 miles southeast of Elmira, New York, and 30 miles southwest of Bing ...

and the small city of

Sayre, Oklahoma Sayre is a small city in, and the county seat of, Beckham County, in western Oklahoma, United States. It is halfway between Oklahoma City, and Amarillo, Texas, on Interstate 40 and the former U.S. Route 66. The population was 4,375 at the 2010 ...

were named in his honor.

Early life

Sayre was born on October 13, 1824 to William Heysham Sayre and Elizabeth Kent, his wife, on the Kent family's farm near Bloomsburg in rural

Columbia County, Pennsylvania Columbia County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 64,727. Its county seat is Bloomsburg. The county was created on March 22, 1813, from part ...

. In 1828, the Sayre family moved to

Mauch Chunk Jim Thorpe is a borough and the county seat of Carbon County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is historically known as the burial site of Native American sports legend Jim Thorpe. Jim Thorpe is ...

(now Jim Thorpe), Pennsylvania where William worked for the

Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company The Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company was a mining and transportation company headquartered in Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, now known as Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. The company operated from 1818 until its dissolution in 1964 and played an early and i ...

as a lockmaster. As a result of observing the locks, young Robert showed an early interest in construction and civil engineering.

Career

Sayre's first significant work in engineering was on the

Morris Canal The Morris Canal (1829–1924) was a common carrier anthracite coal canal across northern New Jersey that connected the two industrial canals at Easton, Pennsylvania across the Delaware River from its western terminus at Phillipsburg, New Jers ...

in New Jersey. He also participated in the surveys and construction for the

Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway The Mauch Chunk and Summit Railroad was a coal-hauling railroad in the mountains of Pennsylvania that operated between 1828 and 1932. It was the first operational railway, in the United States, of any substantial length to carry paying passenger ...

. In 1854, Sayre was named Chief Engineer of the

, and he led the extension of that railroad northward and westward through Pennsylvania and New York State. Sayre was one of the founders of Bethlehem Iron Company, precursor of

. He was responsible for the design and construction of the company's first iron works during the years 1861 through 1863. He became vice president of Bethlehem Iron Works in 1891. Sayre built a large house in Bethlehem and lived in it from 1858 until his death in 1907. Currently his house is known as the Sayre Mansion, and is in use as a bed-and-breakfast.

Philanthropy

Sayre was a trustee of St. Luke's Hospital and a Charter Trustee of

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Epis ...

. Sayre Observatory at Lehigh University was erected in 1868 and was paid for by a gift of $5,000 from Sayre.

References

External links

*Metz, Lance E
''The Diaries of Robert Heysham Sayre''
Bethlehem, PA: Lehigh University, 1990. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sayre, Robert Heysham 1824 births 1907 deaths Bethlehem Steel people Lehigh University people Lehigh Valley Railroad people