Insta-Blog-O-Matic!: Historic Mauch Chunk Photos

Given that I grew up there, one thing that I’ve been asked a few times is, “Why don’t you have more material on Mauch Chunk and Jim Thorpe?” The thing is, other than material that is found in private collections, the selection of photography for Mauch Chunk, East Mauch Chunk, and Jim Thorpe from the 1950s to 1970s is rather limited, as far as images for public publication.

When doing a Google image search of “historic Mauch Chunk,” one quickly discovers that the majority of the photos are either from the 1800s or recent photos of the downtown area.

Enter the Library of Congress, Jack Delano, and the Farm Security Administration. From 1937 to 1942, the FSA had photographers, most notably Jack Delano, Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, and Gordon Parks, traveling around the country and documenting Americana through photographs.

Fortunately the Library of Congress makes available FSA images without rights restrictions so that those of us who seek such things can find photos from this era. With respect to Mauch Chunk and East Mauch Chunk, Jack Delano’s photographs help bridge the gap of the 1800s and the twenty-first century by offering mid-century images of both boroughs. These would have been taken as the Depression was ending and World War II was beginning, and it’s evident in many of the photographs that Mauch Chunk and East Mauch Chunk had hit hard times as the Great Depression came to a close.

From what I’ve read in multiple places, when these photos were taken, Mauch Chunk was dealing with several issues: the lingering poverty of the Depression, the decline of anthracite coal sales as oil became the fuel of choice, and the drop in passenger train service as automobiles became more ubiquitous.

Below is a collection of Jack Delano’s 1940 photographs of Mauch Chunk and East Mauch Chunk. All are readily available from the Library of Congress but take some finding and might even be difficult to locate if you’re not accustomed to using the Library of Congress for such things. (Which you should be; it’s a wonderful resource.)

The American Hotel along Broadway. The Carbon County Courthouse can be seen at the far right.

Looking up Broadway towards High Street.

The Mahlon S. Kemmerer mansion. Note the Mauch Chunk Beer sign in the foreground.

Route 209 looking towards Nesquehoning. The area known locally as The Liberties is in the bottom left of the image. Notice how few trees existed along the hillside at the time.

The Lehigh Coal & Navigation Building, at the corner of Susquehanna Street and Race Street.

Upper Broadway looking towards the direction of the jail.

The Lehigh River.

The Lehigh River and the old steel truss bridge. Notice the train station in the bottom left corner. Today the area serves as the parking lot for the Jim Thorpe Market.