Louis Q
Many “shout-outs” to Kevin, the owner of the Valley House in Sayre, PA, for granting me access the second and third floors of his establishment this past Saturday. The old building was built during Sayre’s booming railroad and hosptial heyday of the late 1800’s and served as a hotel and inn for many generations and continues to operate as a bar on the first floor. Kevin explained to me that several very old and interesting items still “lived” on the upper levels including turn of the century furniture including beds and dressers as well as numerous smaller items. He further stated that a well know local artist made the upper levels his home for over 15 years. It was clearly evident that an artist had lived up there from what I found while I carefully walked around the creaky and dusty old floors. I saw murals painted on walls and furniture and dozens of old painings on glass, wood, fabric, cardboard boxes and other things. I found very interesting art items from plaster, etching supplies, paint, pencils, brushes, old tins, block cutting and sculpting items, many old wooden frames, old photography equipment and so on. One of the neatest items I found was an old handmade doorbell type messaging system devised of old pulleys and cables attached to metal objects, an old pan and other items that could be used from the first floor bar area to summon the artist upstairs. Weird but different. The walls and ceiling on these upper levels were in great decay with mostly the bare lathe and plaster showing and falling. There were several leaks that have been fixed however Kevin showed me an inventive way the past owners solved the leak problems years ago. Plastic was hung on the ceiling in a manner to funnel the water into large 55 gallon barrels with a long hose attached to them near the top so that when the barrels would fill, the water would through the hoses, out a window and onto the alley way below. Two things that I found very neat were a box of old, metal crucifix’s at the top of the stairs leading to the third floor, they were cool and unique but a little creepy. I wondered how old they were and where the came from originally. The second item I thought was very interesting was this old camera with old B&W photos near it. The smaller photo looks like the RPH Patterson building from the 1930-1940’s perhhaps. It is a picture of a nurse pushing a patient in an old type wheel chair with possibly a family member looking on. There is an old car in the background as well. If anybody has any info about this photograph (if you can see it close enough that is) please feel free to share. I am having a great time exploring these old archaic ruins and hope to venture into more soon. I need to remember my face mask/breathers however as I am thinking the dust and air in these places is not the cleanest or healthiest.
