Sayers Manor

Sayers Manor was erected in the late 1860's by Waynesburg College President A.B. Miller and his wife Margaret Bell Miller shortly after the Civil War in the Gothic Revival Style. It was built from bricks burned from clay obtained just across the street; the excavated area became "Lake Winetta," where goldfish and lilies once thrived. Originally the house had nine rooms, but additions were built later (Pastorius, 1).

The Miller resided for many years in what is now called "Sayers Manor." After Mrs. Miller died, Miller continued to live there until 1896 after his son, Albert Barnes Miller, a dental surgeon, died. Thenceforward, Miller made his home in Hanna Hall until his death. Shortly before his retirement as President, his residence was sold to A.I. Cooke for $5,200. Cooke made improvements on it, and resided there (Dusenberry, 432).

Sayers and his wife Sallie acquired the house from her father, A.I. Cooke, who had purchased the house in 1896. Their addition of 1910 added ten rooms to the original nine, creating a palatial mansion that fronted on Wayne Street. The house had an exterior of press brick and stone while the interior was richly finished with hardwood paneling, mantels and floors (Pastorius, 1).

Several buildings were acquired or constructed by Waynesburg College in the 1940's. Noteworthy was the acquisition, partly by purchase and partly by a gift by former Judge and Mrs. A.H. Sayers, of the Sayers house at the corner of Wayne and Morris Street. The house had originally been named after "Lewis Wetzel Sayers Sr. family who lived there in the late 1800s-early 1900s. (Catalogit Hub, 1)" In November of 1945, girls were being housed in Sayers Manor as well as in Walton and Varsity Halls. The former residence - long known as "Sayers Manor" - is now only a memory of Waynesburg's history.

Greene County Connections. Sayers Manor, Catalogit Hub. Accessed March 28th 2021. https://hub.catalogit.app/4150/folder/entry/916e4870-248b-11eb-873e-dd7c1bb6fdb2.

Mary Beth Pastorius. The Sayers Building & Sayers Manor. Waynesburg Matters (2019): 1. Accessed March 28th 2021. http://waynesburgmatters.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-sayers-building-sayers-manor.html)

Pastorius, Mary Beth. Miller Hall, Waynesburg Matters. April 13th 2017. Accessed April 21st 2021. http://waynesburgmatters.blogspot.com/2017/04/miller-hall.html.

William Howard Dusenberry, The Waynesburg College Story 1849-1974 (The Kent State University Press 1975). (296,432)