Sayre, Oklahoma
| Sayre, Oklahoma | |
|---|---|
| City | |
Buildings in Sayre
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| Motto: "Main Street On Historic Route (66)" | |
 Location in Beckham County and the state of Oklahoma. |
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| Coordinates: 35°17′56″N 99°38′12″W / 35.29889°N 99.63667°WCoordinates: 35°17′56″N 99°38′12″W / 35.29889°N 99.63667°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Oklahoma |
| County | Beckham |
| Government | |
| • Type | Aldermanic |
| Area | |
| • Total | 5.61 sq mi (14.54 km2) |
| • Land | 5.59 sq mi (14.48 km2) |
| • Water | 0.02 sq mi (0.05 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,808 ft (551 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 4,375 |
| • Density | 782/sq mi (302.1/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 73662 |
| Area code(s) | 580 |
| FIPS code | 40-65700 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1097858 |
| Website | Sayre, Oklahoma |
Sayre is a 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 census, the largest recorded by a census since Sayre's founding. It was an increase of 6.3 percent from the 2000 census.
After the Civil War, Congress wanted to stimulate the economy and aid the growth of the nation. One way that they achieved this was to promote the building of the western railroads. Upon completion of the Union Pacific-Central Pacific joining together in 1869 with the Golden Spike, other railroads trying to capitalize on commerce and trade also began crossing the western country. This included the Great Northern and Burlington in the far north, and the Southern Pacific on the extreme southern border.
Eventually this would lead to rails crossing Indian Territory, present-day Oklahoma, around the start of the 20th century. A new rail line was extended from Weatherford to Texola by McCabe & Steen Contractors in July 1901. Entrepreneurs would buy land near where the new tracks were being laid, and also near a source of water. The Choctaw Town Site and Improvement Company did this, and when the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad crossed the North Fork of the Red River in Western Indian Territory an instant town sprang up, which incorporated on 14 September 1901.
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