Wealth and Prosperity in Mauch Chunk/Jim Thorpe PA

All the information that I’m about to post here came from the Mauch Chunck
Historical Society I will include the link to the site. I  did not write any of
this it’s right from the site I’m only barrowing the information from them. I do
not own any of the information that  I’m about to post. Here is the link to the
page where you can find all the information on and where I barrowed the
information from as well :http://mauchchunkhistory.com/home.html

The
victorian Era 1875-1900


Mauch Chunk,
founded in 1818 as a company town, went through a boom period that lasted
through the rest of the century as the importance of anthracite became central
to the American Industrial Revolution and the American way of life. Men of
modest means and men of no means at all came to the town and got swept up in the
success and opportunity the town afforded them. Some became millionaires several
times over. Even those who did not become millionaires did well for themselves –
the tide of prosperity raised nearly all the boats of Mauch Chunk.

This vigorous era
reached its peak in the last quarter of the 19th century. As that era began most
of Mauch Chunk’s “old money” families were still centered here. The next
generation was still young, but they were maturing and not all were destined to
remain in Mauch Chunk.

Industry in Mauch
Chunk bustled and there was plenty of employment in various enterprises. These
included the coal business, three railroads and their attendant shops and yards,
the Lehigh Canal and the boat building enterprises, breweries, construction
companies, two iron plants plus a wire rope mill, two newspapers, a tannery and
a tallow plant. Besides these businesses, Mauch Chunk was also the county seat
and there was a wealth of lawyers along with the clerks and secretaries needed
in the various offices.

During this era
there was an exceptional set of individuals who were the leaders of the town and
industry. Nearly all had made their fortune and fame in the coal and rail
industries and nearly all were millionaires. And in the late 19th century, being
a millionaire truly meant something. They included (in order of when they passed
from the scene):

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1. John Lentz 1793-1875 2. Daniel Bertsch 1801-1877 3. Asa Packer 1805-1879 4. Charles Albright 1830-1880 5. John Leisenring 1819-1884 6. Harry E. Packer 1850-1884 7. Fisher Hazard 1829-1888 8. Alexander W. Butler 1823-1889 9. Andrew A. Douglas 1818-1890 10. Albert G. Brodhead 1815-1891 11. William Lilly 1821-1893 12. Robert Klotz 1819-1895 13. Charles O. Skeer 1818-1898 14. James I. Blakslee 1815-1901 15. Allen Craig 1835-1902 16. Nathan D. Cortright 1817-1902 17. Francis R. Sayre 1821-1908 18. John C. Dolon 1832-1914 19. Leonard Yaeger 1824-1919 20. John S. Wentz 1838-1919 21. Mahlon Kemmerer 1843-1925

These were the men
who built the great mansions on Front Hill overlooking the Lehigh. These were
the men who built the townhouses of Millionaire’s Row on Broadway. These were
the “royalty” of old Mauch Chunk.

As time
progressed, these town fathers began to die out and in some cases the next
generation moved on to the bigger ponds of Bethlehem, Philadelphia and New York.
The coal and rail industries would soon start shifting their main offices to the
bigger cities, too. Still, the momentum of prosperity continued to carry the
town along and there was a wave of construction during this final quarter of the
19th century that reshaped the town. It was high times in old Mauch Chunk while
it lasted.

Even as business
shifted elsewhere and the old families faded from the scene, another industry
had been growing, that of tourism. Mauch Chunk had been a tourism town since the
early 1820s when visitors came to see the taming of the wilderness. By the late
years of the century tourism had grown until, for a time, Mauch Chunk was the
2nd

most popular
attraction in the United States – 2nd only to Niagara Falls.

The first know settlers in Mauch Chunk Jim Thorpe PA

All the information that I’m about to post here came from the Mauch Chunck
Historical Society I will include the link to the site. I  did not write any of
this it’s right from the site I’m only barrowing the information from them. I do
not own any of the information that  I’m about to post. Here is the link to the
page where you can find all the information on and where I barrowed the
information from as well :http://mauchchunkhistory.com/home.html
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first settlers
of Ol' Mauch Chunk were members of the work crew that came here with White &
Hazard in the fall of 1818.  The "charter" citizens of old Mauch Chunk, besides
White and Hazard, were:


Wilson, John, Coppersmith
Lamon, James,
laborer
Ward, Thomas, laborer
Taylor,
Thomas, machinist
Fulton, John, laborer
Jenkins, John, carpenter       
Spear, James,
laborer
Spear, William,
laborer
Spear, Robert, laborer
Mitchell,
Hezekiah, saddler
McCrea, James, wheelwright
Briggs, William,
mason
Nowlan, Francis, white washer
Zane,
William, carpenter
Cameron, James,
laborer
Flood, John, teacher
Watt, James, laborer
Buzby, Samuel,
blacksmit


These settlers
were soon followed by others, including Nicholas Brink who brought his wife and
children here in early 1819.  Margaret Brink was the first woman in MC and in
April 1819 the first child born in MC was born to the Brinks. 


Most of these
settlers only lived here a short time - most were gone by the mid 1820s.  The
Spears were in MC for a while, but had relocated to other places by time of the
Civil War.  James McCrea is the most interesting since he remained in MC the
rest of his life.  He had the wheelwright shop which occupied the site of what
is now the Marion Hose Co. building.  He's buried in the MC Cemetery

The birth of Mauch Chunck/ Jim Thorpe PA

All the information that I’m about to post here came from the Mauch Chunck Historical Society I will include the link to the site. I  did not write any of this it’s right from the site I’m only barrowing the information from them. I do not own any of the information that  I’m about to post. Here is the link to the page where you can find all the information on and where I barrowed the information from as well :http://mauchchunkhistory.com/home.html
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Prior to 1818 the place where the Mauch Chunk Creek entered the Lehigh River was
a wild and lonely place. The creek met the river in a wide, rocky estuary known
to the few locals in the area as “Little Spruce Swamp”. Above the swamp, rocks
and boulders choked the stream, creating many pools and ponds as the water
cascaded toward the river. Rhododendrons grew thick on the steep hillsides and
fish and game abounded.
As for the presence of man, there was very
little, but what there was stood out in the wildness of the scene. The site had
been used by the Lehigh Coal Mining Company (LCMC) as a boat landing, but there
was much more activity in this regard about a mile up the river at Lausanne
Landing. The Lausanne Tavern also played host to the officials and laborers of
the LCMC when they were working in the area.
Perhaps the most
noticeable sign of man at Mauch Chunk prior to 1818 was the state road that
paralleled the river. Nicholas Kern, a pioneer of Lehigh Gap, had improved the
old Moravian Road from Lehigh Gap northward to the village of Weissport.
Beginning in 1792 he extended this road north along the river to the base of the
Broad Mountain. It was used mainly to reach the coalmines at Room Run (later
Nesquehoning). Kern was plagued with problems in the construction of this road,
with some of his worst problems located at the swamp at Mauch Chunk Creek. The
details of Kern’s road are not known, but it is likely he constructed a bridge
at the site.

By 1818 great
change was in the wind along the Upper Lehigh. The old LCMC was out of the
picture as a new company – or rather a pair of new companies, entered the scene.
Three partners had taken an interest in mining the coal and getting it to market
– two totally different ventures. To that end, they founded the Lehigh
Navigation Co. to improve the river and, shortly thereafter, the Lehigh Mining
Co., to mine the coal. This allowed backers their choice in what endeavor to
invest in. In a few years the two concerns would merge to form the Lehigh Coal
& Navigation Co.

Josiah White,
Erskine Hazard (Philadelphia businessmen) and George Hauto were the three main
partners in this new effort. They first visited the Upper Lehigh in 1817,
returning in spring of 1818 to commence work. White and Hazard recruited 13
laborers for the project and it was decided that the best way to quarter the
workers would be to construct a small fleet of boats that would carry them to
work the different work sites on the Lehigh. White dubbed the fleet “Whitestown
on the Lehigh”. Beginning work at Lausanne Landing, the crew gradually worked
its way down the river, moving rocks and clearing a channel in the river. The
workers were a mix of men – some local mountain people, some brought from
Philadelphia. All were roughnecks and strangers to White and Hazard – some of
dubious background. The partners, working side by side with their crew, were
mindful come payday so as not to be murdered by their employees.

By the fall of
1818 a channel had been cleared on the Lehigh and that work crew was dispersed.
The “Whitestown” boats returned to the Mauch Chunk Creek for the season. For the
next part of the work, White brought in a crew of 18 laborers, men from his
factory in Philadelphia and other men known to him. Along with White, Hazard and
Hauto, these men constitute the “charter citizens of Mauch Chunk”, the first settlers.

Some were only
short-term residents. Others remained and made a life for themselves in the new
village – some even spending the rest of their lives here. James McCrea became
one of the town’s best-known citizens. Born in Scotland in 1788, the wheelwright
had worked for White at his Philadelphia factory. He remained in Mauch Chunk
plying his trade from 1818 until his death, which came in 1882 at the great age
of 94. For many years his wheelwright shop stood where the Marion Hose Co. now
stands. He is the only charter citizen to be buried in the Mauch Chunk
Cemetery.

During the winter
of 1818-1819 the Whitestown boats remained moored at Mauch Chunk. One of those
boats housed Mauch Chunk’s first family, that of LC&N steward Nicholas
Brink. With the spring thaw of 1819 construction began again and Brink and
family moved from the boat to the first dwelling in the village. This was
located along the creek near where the Navigation building now stands, and
included a large bakery on one side, operated by Nicholas with three of four
helpers. The village grew rapidly in 1819 and soon there were over 600 laborers
to house and feed. Brink’s wife Margaret worked as a cook and was the
housekeeper for the large boarding house adjacent to the Brink home.

Not long after the
Brinks moved into their home, they welcomed a new child into their family. Born
April 21, 1819, he was the first child born in the village and was named in
honor of the three LC&N partners responsible for the founding of the town.
The full name bestowed upon the child was Josiah White Erskine Hazard George F.
A. O. Hauto Brink
His birth was a great cause of celebration for the village
and the laborers made an especially big event of it. Not only were they
celebrating the birth of a child, they were celebrating the new spring, their
hard work, and the firm establishment of the village of Mauch Chunk. A witness
described the celebration thusly,


”The forest was
illuminated with pine torches, plenty of good old and pure whiskey was drank,
and the noise and dancing were so great that it seemed as if the very tops of
the pines had caught the infection and kept time with it by waving to and
fro.”


And
so it was that Old Mauch Chunk was born, carved out of the wilderness as a
company town for the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co.