File:Postcard. "Bear Mountain, Mauch Chunk, PA." (61c33a15-44b0-4253-917f-0a1c3982172d).jpg

Postcard. "Bear Mountain, Mauch Chunk, PA." top left. Photograph of coal train encircling mountain. "For Comfort and/Economy Use a [Illegible] Stove" sign on shed, center. River in foreground. Reverse: "No. 1075D. Pub. By A.H. Luckenbach. Made in Germany" vertically at left.

From the Museum Collection: Postcard. "Bear Mountain, Mauch Chunk, PA." top left. Photograph of coal train encircling mountain. "For Comfort and/Economy Use a [Illegible] Stove" sign on shed, center. River in foreground. Reverse: "No. 1075D. Pub. By A.H. Luckenbach. Made in Germany" vertically at left. Unused. 1900-1914 The historic town of Jim Thorpe was formerly known as Mauch Chunk, a Leni Lenape Indian name which means "Bear Mountain." The steep hillsides, narrow streets, and terraced gardens earned Mauch Chunk the nickname “The Switzerland of America.” Excavation of the Nesquehoning Tunnel in the early 1870s ended the Switchback's service for moving coal. But the Switchback railroad soon found a second life as a popular scenic railway. The Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad (subsequently part of the Jersey Central) and the Lehigh Valley Railroad soon brought thousands of day-trippers from major cities. Set amidst towering mountains, Mauch Chunk was touted to these excursionists as the "Switzerland of America." In 1873, the Switchback railroad carried 30,478 passengers. The line remained marginally profitable into the early 1900s, but World War I, the coming of automobiles, and the year-long closure in 1932 of some roads leading to town so that they could be paved, hurt business. The Great Depression sent the company into a decline that not even a community-based "Save the Switchback" campaign could halt. On Independence Day 1932, the line carried a meager 139 riders. The last cars ran in October 1933, and the line was sold for scrap in 1937.

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