Jim Thorpe, PA – Aren’t You a Famous Athlete? (The Switzerland of the Poconos)
The old mining town of Mauch Chunk was down on its luck and desperately needed something to improve its reputation. In 1954, after a long decline, the town came up with a daring and, perhaps morbid, scheme to revive the town’s fortune. Hence the name change and queue Jim Thorpe’s Body!
Table of Contents
Arrival in the Big Thorpe
Driving through the Pocono mountains back to Canada, I decided to stop in the “Switzerland of the Poconos”, the small town of Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. Driving in from the south, I took the highway (I-476) exit at Weissport towards the town, but hung a left going west towards the Flagstaff Mountain Park Overlook. This viewpoint is located on the hill overlooking the town and gives an impressive view of the surrounding area. To the north you can see the picturesque main street nestled in a groove in between two mountains. In front of the main street you will see the rail tracks coming into the town as well as the Lehigh River. Just behind the main street is a residential district of the city. It is connected to East Mauch (East Jim Thorpe) by bridge over the river.
If you continue following the road from here, you will have an exhilarating car ride down the mountain before being funnelled directly into the winding canyon that composes the Main Street of the city. As you come further down the mountain, the crevice narrows and the residential buildings come together, closer and closer, until the escarpment is almost touching them. You emerge from the canyon at the Carbon County Courthouse and are greeted by the railroad tracks. On the left side, heading north, you will find a parking lot. It is much easier to park here than on the main street!
Downtown (West Jim Thorpe)
The Railway Station
After parking the car, I walked over to the entrance of the main street, walking along the old rail lines. The old Queen Anne styled station was built in 1888. The building now operates a free history museum and serves as a tourist information center where you can learn a little about the fascinating development of this unique town. The building is still operational and scenic trains depart from its platforms.
The city of Mauch Chunk was founded in 1818 by the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company as a company town. Its name is derived from the name “Mawsch Unk” or Bear Place, in the dialect of the Native American People. This is a possible reference to the a nearby mountain that once resembled that of a bear, this feature would have existed before mining altered the landscape. The town was meant to serve as the terminus for the Lehigh Canal, a project that made the Lehigh River navigable all the way to the Delaware River, in order to allow for the exportation of raw goods. The raw material itself would be transported to the town by the intermediary of the Mauch Chunk Switchback Gravity Railroad before being shipped out on a boat. A the region developed, the scope of the railway grew and more lines were built to connect various mining operations in the Poconos.
Eventually the town was connected to the Lehigh Valley Railroad (1855) in order to compete with the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company monopoly. Once the railway was built the town grew rapidly. Thus, it can be seen the mining operations in Mauch Trunk were quite sophisticated for its relative size. In later years many of the railroads were discontinued and sold. The Switchback Rail became the world’s first Roller Coaster (1850) offering rides to a thrill seeking public and others sold off as tourist trains.
The tangled mess of infrastructure including canals, rail roads and tunnels could not stave off the decline of coal and Jim Thorpe, once wealthy, slowly turned into a bedroom community for commuters working in nearby manufacturing centers such as cities like Allentown in the Lehigh Valley. A lucky few work locally in the realm of government services (Jim Thorpe is a the county seat) as well as in the growing tourism industry.
For those of you who enjoy a big old chunk of coal, you will find a massive chunk in front of the train station. Gathered in the square in front of the station are a few bakery stalls with some delicious goodies.
Broadway (Main Street)
There was a time where historic Broadway Street, the main street of Jim Thorpe, was paraded down by millionaires in their fancy cars. Victorian architecture lined the street and pretty shops and bars keep pedestrian traffic entertained.
Although that time is long past, it still retains more charm then any small town in Pennsylvania, and that saying something!
Important Buildings along Broadway include the Victorian “Inn at Jim Thorpe”, with its old time tap-house and the Carbon County Courthouse with its distinctive clock tower. This section of the main street contains most of the bars/eateries.
On the small Side Street Parallel to the main street you will find the St Mark & John Episcopal Church.
As you walk uphill, away from the county courthouse the eateries will be replaces by cafe’s shops and residential buildings from the town’s heyday. The further you walk up Broadway the more residential the street becomes, eventually becoming less compact and rather unimpressive.
A sign of the city’s former affluence can be found in the Opera House. Although the building is rather diminutive in size compared to more developed urban centers, it is still an impressive cultural institution for a city of its stature.
The upper reaches of Broadway include two major museums; The Jim Thorpe cultural center, housed in an old masonry hall that was once a Victorian church and the old Carbon County jail. The museum displays artifacts from the city’s history and it’s vast industrial heritage. The stone jail is one of those buildings that will give you chills when you walk it’s innards. It is said to be haunted by the ghost of a “Molly Maguire”, the name of violent Irish coal miners turned anarchists. Four of these Irishmen were hung here, and one was said to be innocent, leaving a hand-print as a testament to his innocence in a cell.
The street tapers off after the jail but is still pretty, just a little less impressive.
Back at the start of the canyon, near the Carbon county courthouse, you will find a building called Hotel Switzerland. It is located across the street from the courthouse towards the train station. There is a popular bar on the ground floor and beside it, a Civil War monument dedicated to the citizens of the town that fought for the Union at the battle of Appomattox (1865) during the Civil War.
If you climb the hill behind the monument you will find the Asa Packer mansion and a second grand home, the Harry Packer mansion. Asa was the patriarch of the Packer family and was quite wealthy. He made his money in the steel and iron industry playing a leading role in the development of the city. He founded the Lehigh Valley Railroad and the Lehigh University in nearby Bethlehem, PA. The mansion was built in 1861 in Italianate-Victorian style. There was a time where the Packers were the people to be seen in town. So… what’s so important about this house? It is one of the few Victorian houses left in America with their original furniture. On the inside of the home you will find many interesting pieces including chairs owned by Robert E. Lee and a replica of the Lincoln Bed.
Race Street (Second Street Alley)
As stunning as Broadway is, the second street, race street has an unforgettable charm. Sure its a street, but it is more or less an alley, with a few small businesses.
The eastern end of the street is home to a collection of stone buildings looking out at the St Mark & John Episcopal Church.
This street also culminates at the train station so it cab be easy to hit is as part of a loop through town.
East Munk (East Jim Thorpe)
The eastern side of the city is rather bland and forgetful architecturally but holds the holy grail of Jim Thorpe memorabilia… the body of Jim Thorpe himself. He is buried in a red granite tomb, with an inscription that commemorates the man and his triumphs.
For those of you not familiar with the man, he was a versatile athlete that won two gold medals in the 1912 Olympic Games (for both decathlon and pentathlon). He also played professional baseball and football (American). He was a very successful Native American athlete in a time where indigenous people were not always well received.
As strange, and maybe not politically correct, as purchasing an impoverished native American athlete’s body and transporting it to a random town in Pennsylvania is, the monument to Thorpe is in some ways moving. Not only does his now now reign on forever in the name of the city but his tomb has a display with plaques of all of his accomplishments as well as a massive statue to him. I would say that it is worth the stop, and it is too bad that they didn’t find a spot for him right in the touristic downtown area, near the extension of Broadway street.
Conclusion
Jim Thorpe may be but a one street town, but is a perfect place for a weekend getaway. Enjoy the charms of this little hamlet in the Poconos and use it as a base to explore, to hike and enjoy the culinary delights that this town can offer. The body of Jim Thorpe may have been a gimmick to attract tourists to the town, but if there is such a thing as ghosts, I’m sure that Mr. Thorpe is floating down main-street and enjoying the charms of the taprooms and the looming Pocono scenery.
