Jim Thorpe - The Town

Cute Downtowns

Mar 11

This small historic Victorian-style town, nestled in the Lehigh Mountains, is definitely worth exploring. The town’s main commercial streets are Broadway and Race Street with charming old buildings, some maintained, some restored. The coal mining and railroad town was founded in 1818, and named Mauch Chunk (derived from the Indian words meaning “bear mountain”). The Switchback Railroad was 95% gravity-run, hauling coal from the mines to the canal. When it began, it was the second railroad in the country and the first for Pennsylvania. When locomotives began to be used, the Switchback was adapted for passenger use in 1873, and operated as a popular tourist attraction thrill ride until 1932. Switchback is credited with inspiring the creation of the rollercoaster. The times changed, and Mauch Chunk eventually lost out to more popular resort towns. The town experienced an economic downturn. Patricia, Jim Thorpe’s widow, visited the town and spoke to Civic leaders, eventually striking a deal to have Mauch Chunk and East Mauch Chunk renamed in honor of her husband, the athlete and Olympic medal winner. And a memorial was erected in 1954.

Here is what caught my eye. I hope you enjoy!

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House with delicate architectural features

Multi-family red brick building

Decorated window with shutters and blooming window box

Side by side attached home

Bright colors are used

Italianate-style house

Mauch Chunk Opera House dates back to 1882, and the acts appearing at the theater included Mae West, Al Jolson and John Phillip Sousa. The building then served as a movie theater from 1927 until 1959, when it sat vacant until it was reopened as a live music venue in 2003.

Sone building with pumpkin-colored accents

Hooven Mercantile Co. building

The old Queen Anne-style Mauch Chunk train station, once the focal point of the town, is now a visitors center and bank.

Train platform

Decorative window with shutters

New Orleans style

The restored McBride building

McBride building turret details

The houses on the downtown streets do not have much open space.

Queen Anne-style home with turret

Restored former firehouse

Bear Mountain is the backdrop to Jim Thorpe with the courthouse clock tower dominating downtown’s Broadway.

At the foot of High Street

Coupling

The town is known as Switzerland of America.

Abandoned home waiting for a future

Abandoned building along the Lehigh Gorge Rail Trail

Refections on Mauch Chunk Lake

Lifeguard stand at Mauch Chunk Lake Park

Harry Packer Mansion, also on Packer Hill Road, may seem familiar to anyone that has visited Disney World’s Haunted Mansion. The facade of this mansion, now an inn, was used as a model. The house is now a restored Victorian inn.

Masked scarecrows

porch

Scenic railway trestle along the Lehigh Gorge Rail Trail

Some buildings show their age

Handsome brick townhouse with Mansard roof

Colorful Italianate-style home

Boot planters on the front porch

Mums on the stoop

Vintage car

The shops on Race Street are 16 row houses originally built by Asa Packer for engineers and foremen of the Lehigh Valley Railroad.

Mary’s Guest House - No vacancies

Looking up

Old Jail Museum on West Broadway, has reconstructed gallows, dungeon, and cell blocks and you can hear the story of the condemned Molly Maguires. The jail was built in 1871, and was occupied as a jail up until 1995.

Bridge leading to the Lehigh Gorge State Park trail

The Carbon County Courthouse tower with clock was built in 1894 and modeled after Big Ben in London.

Rooftops - the view from High Street

Twin front porches on these attached homes

Outdoor light fixture on the porch of the Asa Packer Mansion Museum

Pictured here is the Victorian-style mansion built in 1861 for philanthropist, railroad magnate and founder of Lehigh University, Asa Packer. No photography is allowed inside.

Looking through the railroad cars

The view of the Lehigh River from the Lehigh Gorge Rail Trail

Semi-attached home with matching porches

Vintage car

Bench and lamppost with decoratively framed windows

High Street

Interesting architectural elements

Episcopal St. John and St. Mark’s Church

The 19th-century industrial town of Jim Thorpe, whose history has been so dependent on mining and railroad, is booming today as a small quaint historical town located in the Lehigh Gorge. It has an incredible blend of architectural styles that include Queen Anne, Romanesque, Italianate and Victorian and there is no sign of the big chain businesses. There are walking and biking trails, shops, restaurants, a lake and a few museums including the Asa Packer Mansion and the Old Jail Museum. The Fall Foliage Festival which takes place in October, draws a big crowd, making parking difficult.

Flagstaff Mountain Park is suppose to have incredible views of Jim Thorpe. Unfortunately, both times I visited, it was closed.

What you should know:

There is a large parking lot by the train station as well as parking on the street; some streets are metered.
The town is very walkable.
You could spend a couple of hours to an entire day.
There are many restaurant and live entertainment options.