This article was written by Suzanne Sickler Ohl, an early member of the Tyrone Area Historical Society.  It was first published in March 1993.

            The growth and development of Tyrone, Pennsylvania would not have been possible without the railroad.  It gave people a means of making a living.  It took advantage of the geographical location to make Tyrone a railroad town rather than another iron industrial town.  Here was found the nearest and best markets for the grains raised in Centre County and the coal and lumber from Clearfield County.  Tyrone provided the setting for a remarkable story, The Tyrone Division, formed in 1863 and reaching its demise in 1929.

            In the early days it was the policy of the railroad company to help in the development of terminal towns.  As passenger traffic increased on the [Pennsylvania Railroad’s] Main Line through Tyrone, the company built a beautiful large brick station at the end of Main Street (Pennsylvania Avenue) in 1881.  It housed the offices of the Tyrone Division, the Adams Express Company, and the Middle Division Yard Master.

            In 1903 the West Tyrone yard was built as part of a large expansion, then in progress.  There were eight tracks and a Wye connecting with the Tyrone Division.  It was in connection with this program that the island platform across from the station was built.  Then in 1916 a small station, the Lehigh Station, was built west of the Wye.

            The Tyrone Division was merged in May 1929 with the two other major divisions, the Middle and the Williamsport, as part of the Railroad Company’s retrenchment program.  This was the beginning of the decline of Tyrone as an important railroad center.  In 1969, no longer being needed by the railroad company, the main station was demolished.  The loss of this building is something being regretted today.  It has helped to instill in Tyroners the desire to preserve other early Tyrone buildings.  These buildings, when preserved in good condition, belong to future generations as part of their heritage.