Sayre Borough was born
in 1891 after the perseverance and sharp business sense of Howard Elmer
brought a major railroad repair center to this area. The repair center located
in Waverly N.Y. and owned by Robert H. Sayre, president of the P. and N.Y.
Canal and Railroad Co., was set to rebuild and Elmer wanted Sayre to move
it to a spot on the 
approximately
730 acres of land he owned. With the land situated on the border of New
York state and near the Susquehanna River, Elmer had persuaded Sayre to
build his new repair center on his land. Shortly thereafter the land was
divided into lots and buildings began to spring up. Among them was a railroad
station, Post Office, hose company and park. The population of Sayre began
to grow steadily as people came looking for work at the railroad center,
all the while development in Sayre was moving swiftly. Between the years
of 1875 and 1891 came the development of the Robert Packer house, the division
headquarters for the Lehigh Valley railroad, numerous homes being constructed,
building of the Wilbur House, formation of a water co. and sewer system,
and a new banking company took Sayre's population from a few hundred into
the thousands.
1891 saw the incorporation of Sayre as a borough, which set forth the first borough council and the founding of the Sayre Borough Police Department. Charles Cordet served as the first Police Chief in the Borough of Sayre, serving from 1891 to 1895. Theodore Puff, who began his term in 1895 and served as chief for an undetermined amount of time, succeeded Cordet. Serving as chiefs after the term of Theodore Puff was Dale Sisson (1912), Chief Walsh (1912-1915), Edward Keller (1915-1916), and Steve Evans (1916-1917). The exact terms of service of each of these chiefs is undetermined and is estimated as close as possible due to the lack of records during these times.
1917 saw the term of
chief John Kasper, who went on to serve as acting chief until 1919. Succeeding
Kasper was Chief Ray Nobles, who served for some 34 years before retiring
in 1954. During those thirty-four years Sayre Borough Police Department
faced the same day-to-day tasks that faced other communities. One only need
remember that it was the roaring twenties, a time when alcohol was very
prevalent. A look at the police logs of the times reveals a great number
of arrests for drunk and disorderly persons. In most cases the person was
arrested and taken before the local Burgess, where if found guilty, he was
ordered to pay a fine of $1.00 and costs of $4.00. On some occasions the
person also paid the night patrol $1.00, which would bring the total fine
and costs to a whopping $6.00. 
Daily
logs of the time show that some people were allowed to place collateral,
such as chickens and watches as they did not have any money. These times
also brought about Prohibition, and like other places Sayre was not immune
to bootleggers. Even in a town of a few thousand there was enough cause
for "speakeasies", that the police had all they could do to combat the new
Prohibition laws. In fact, a visiting revivalist who could not see inside
the windows of the department accused the Sayre Police Department of being
bootleggers.
