<p>Jim Thorpe in the 20th Century examines the causes and effects of a community’s decision to relinquish its Native American name Mauch Chunk (“Bear Mountain”) to become the town of Jim Thorpe. In the 19th century, Mauch Chunk rode a wave of prosperity, as coal shipping and tourism turned ordinary men into millionaires. In the 20th century, the mainstays of the town’s economy began to tumble like dominoes: mule-drawn coal boats could not compete with the iron horse, ending Mauch Chunk’s days as a canal town by 1922; the touristattracting Switchback Gravity Railroad, unable to afford parts, closed in 1932; the coal mines and working railroads collapsed, as industry, home heating, and trucking turned to petroleum. Down-and-out by the mid-1900s, Mauch Chunk was looking for a means of saving itself when the widow of 1912 Olympian Jim Thorpe proposed a stranger-than-fiction solution.</p>

Jim Thorpe in the 20th Century (PA) (Images of America)

Arts & Photography

Gilbert, Joan

Drury Jr., John H.

Photography & Video

Arcadia Publishing

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Books by Drury Jr., John H.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Drury Jr., John H.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Jim Thorpe in the 20th Century (PA) (Images of America)