With the success of the Lehigh Valley Railroad assuring his financial security and his Congressional duties in Washington completed, Packer, now in his fifties, built a proper home for his family. He selected a site overlooking the Lehigh Riverand that provided convenient access to the Carbon County Court House for his business.

Asa Packer was among the ten wealthiest men in the United States with an estate of over $54 million dollars. A philanthropist throughout his lifetime, he gave $33 million dollars to endow such projects as Lehigh University, St. Luke’s Hospital, Muhlenberg College, and St. Mark’s Church.

On the second floor, near a window of the central hall is an orchestrian—a band-in-a-box that plays from a music roll. The instrument features horns, pipes and drums. On a trip around the world, Mary Packer Cummings, purchased it for $500, including music. She enjoyed it so much that she had it moved to Florida where she vacationed each winter and returned with it to the mansion in the spring.

The parlor is the largest room in the house and was renovated for the Packer’s Golden Anniversary. The fireplaces were covered with a pink velvet drapery with gold threads imported from France. Lighting the parlor is a chandelier decorated with over 850 pieces of hand cut crystal. that served as the model for the chandelier in the film “Gone with the Wind.”

Kathy Long, a tour guide at the Asa Packer Mansion holds a silver tray bearing the monogram “MPC” for Mary Packer Cummings. It came on display in 2001. It was part of the Packer silver collection that had been locked away in a safe for 89 years because the mansion did not have a suitable display area. “ I am so happy that after so many years of offering the house tours, we can the offer the silver to view,” said Kathy.

Asa Packer ran the Lehigh Valley Railroad from his library. His ornate desk, selected from a catalog, features a white metal sculpture given by a Lehigh University graduating class. This one-of-a-kind artwork depicts the many accomplishments of Packer’s life - canal boating, coal mining, railroading and as benefactor of Lehigh University.

Asa Packer’s family bible and top hot rest on a table in his library.

In Victorian splendor, perched upon a shaded hill overlooking the Lehigh River and the Carbon County Courthouse where Judge Asa Packer once held court, stands the Italianate mansion that served as the summer home of Asa and Sarah Packer and, later, by their surviving daughter, Mary Packer Cummings.

In 1860, at the age of 55, Asa Packer’s mansion was completed. His home was the most stylish and modern in Mauch Chunk, now Jim Thorpe, a town known then for its industry and wealth.  With the completion and successful operation of his Lehigh Valley Railroad, Packer was considered among the most industrious and wealthiest men in the nation.

Asa Packer lived in this house until his death in 1879. The house and his fortune passed first to elder son, Robert, who had it for one year before his death. Then it passed to the younger son, Harry, who had possession for one year before he passed away.

The only surviving child, Mary, was precluded from inheriting the family fortune by Victorian laws that forbade single women from inheriting.

To get around this, she married Charles Cummings. It was a marriage of convenience. He signed a pre-nuptial agreement ceding him $100,000 worth of Lehigh Valley Railroad stock in the event of a divorce. Within the year, Mary Packer Cummings received both her inheritance and a divorce.

The Packer Mansion reflects three periods. The first was the original construction of 1860. The second was a major renovation to celebrate the Asa and Sarah Packer’s golden wedding anniversary in 1878. The third period ended with the burial of Mary Packer Cummings in 1912.

Mrs. Cummings deeded the Mansion and surrounding property to the Borough of Mauch Chunk. Not knowing what to do with the property, it was closed in 1912. All the furnishings and personal items were effectively sealed in a time vault.

After 42 years, the time vault was opened. Since 1954, the Lions Club of Jim Thorpe, with the support of the Borough of Jim Thorpe, has been renovating, archiving and providing tours of the Mansion.

Today, the Asa Packer Mansion, a National Historic Landmark since 1985, continues in its Victorian splendor over 140 years since its construction, overlooking a renaissance of tourism in Old Mauch Chunk.

Asa Packer

The mansion was built for industrialist, Asa Packer. Packer was among the ten wealthiest men in the United States with an estate of over $54 million dollars - the equivalent of approximately $3.2 billion dollars today.

A philanthropist throughout his lifetime, he gave $33 million dollars to endow such projects as Lehigh University, St. Luke’s Hospital, Muhlenberg College, and St. Mark’s Church.

Asa Packer was born in Mystic, Connecticut, on December 29, 1805.  On attaining the age of seventeen, he walked to Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania to begin an apprenticeship as a carpenter under his cousin Edward Packer.

After completing his apprenticeship, Packer worked for a year in New York. He returned to Susquehanna County and, on January 23, 1828, married Sarah Blakeslee. They tried farming but were unsuccessful and abandoned it after four years.

Packer came to Mauch Chunk to captain a canal boat. He gained a second boat, then opened a store and a boat yard.

He took a contract for construction of the Upper Division locks on the Lehigh Canal and made a significant profit. Then, he invested this money in a canal boat yard in Pottsville and mines in Nesquehoning.

Packer was an early investor in what would become the Lehigh Valley Railroad. When construction became difficult, he purchased majority ownership and appointed himself as contractor.

In 1855, he completed the railroad between Mauch Chunk and Easton. Though he committed his fortune to building the railroad, its success paid off his investment many times over

Asa Packer served in the Pennsylvania State Legislature where, in 1843, he created legislation to form Carbon County. He served as a Judge in Carbon County. He served as a United States Congressman from 1853 to 1857.

In 1868 he received the votes of the Pennsylvania delegates for the presidential nomination at the National Democratic convention, and in 1869 he was the Democratic candidate for governor of Pennsylvania. In 1876 he was a commissioner for the Centennial exhibition. Packer died on May 17, 1879.

A Mansion on Packer Hill

With the success of the Lehigh Valley Railroad assuring his financial security and his Congressional duties in Washington completed, Packer, now in his fifties, decided to build a proper home for his family. He selected a site at what was 30 Elk Street in Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania. The site provided an excellent view of the town and Lehigh River, provided convenient access to the Carbon County Court House for his business, placed the property above the flood plain, and situated the family next to the home of Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company Manager, John Leisenring. The Packer home was just below the depot for the Switchback Gravity Railroad, the first tourist railroad in the United States.

The Packer home consisted of 18 rooms with 11,000 square feet of living space. It began construction in 1859 and completed in October of 1861. It’s ornate, Italianate design ushered in what would become the Victorian style of architecture for Mauch Chunk.

The building has a cast iron frame and a wooden exterior. From the exterior can be seen an Italianate roof and elaborate wooden brackets, Gothic window  arches, and Gothic gingerbread trefoil motifs trimming the veranda.

At the top of the  red-ribbed tin roof is a central cupola or belvedere. This distinctive feature provided more than a decorative feature or an opportunity for a grand view of the surroundings. It was part of a state-of-the-art cooling system.

The central hall house has an open main staircase spiraling from the main floor to the third floor. Air entering the lower floors rise to the belvedere and exits through it windows. The belvedere, being the highest point on the home, offers a chimney effect to help remove the warm air from the house. An ice house next to the main building, stored ice to provide additional cooling in summer.

When the Packer home was completed in 1861, it cost $14,000 dollars. In 1878, the home was renovated for Asa and Sarah’s  Golden Anniversary at a cost of $85,000. Excepting for cosmetic changes made by Mary Packer Cummings, the home structurally reflects its 1878 reconstruction.

After being closed since the passing of Mary Packer Cummings in 1912, it was reopened under the supervision of the Jim Thorpe Lions Club in 1984. In 1985, it became a National Historic Landmark. The Museum operates as a nonprofit basis from entrance fees, donations, and a small trust from Mrs. Cummings. The Mansion has never received any Federal funding.

Inside the  Italianate Villa

Our tour guide, today, was Kathy Long. She is one of a staff of 15 tour guides that handle the estimated 20,000 visitors each year to the Mansion. Kathy is a professional story teller.

From the Visitor’s Entrance area at the lower level of the Mansion, Kathy leads the tour clockwise around to the side of the house, passing the terraced gardens. We climb six steps to a porch on the main floor as she opens the door to the library.

Asa Packer ran the Lehigh Valley Railroad from this room. His ornate desk, selected from a catalog, features a white metal sculpture given by a Lehigh University graduating class. This one-of-a-kind artwork depicts the many accomplishments of Packer’s life - canal boating, coal mining, railroading and as benefactor of Lehigh University.

The library opens to the parlor, the largest room in the house—extending the full width of the house. Lighting the parlor is a chandelier decorated with over 850 pieces of hand cut crystal. “Perhaps it looks familiar,” says Kathy. “It was used as a model for the film “Gone with the Wind.”

When the house was renovated for their Golden Anniversary, Packer converted the home to central heating. The fireplaces were closed and covered with a pink velvet drapery with gold threads imported from France.

The Packer’s fiftieth anniversary party was a grand celebration. It is said that 1,500 guests attended. Fiftieth anniversaries were rare at the time. Rarer still was the attendance of the minister that married the couple. The minister outlived Packer and performed his burial service.

The center hall connects the front and rear entrances. Guests entered by a covered porch in the rear. A major cost of the renovation was the installation and carving of 1,500 different rosettes on the halls English post oak trim.

A door from the hall opens to the Honduran mahogany paneled dining room. To match the finish in both rooms, the door was constructed as two half thickness doors—the hall side in English post oak and the dining room side in Honduran mahogany.

The dining room served as a board room when Asa Packer had to meet with several guests. Mary Packer married Charles Cummings here. To give the room a more ecumenical look, the original plain window pains were replaced with colorful stain glass. The kitchen, with its coal fired stove is in the adjacent room.

On the second floor are bedrooms for the guests and servants. Near the window of the central hall is an orchestrian—a band-in-a-box that plays from a music roll. The instrument features horns, pipes and drums. On a trip around the world, Mary purchased it for $500, including music. She enjoyed it so much that she had it moved to Florida where she vacationed each winter and returned with it to the mansion in the spring.

The Packers had their bedroom on the third floor. Mary took over this room and lived here into her old age. There are two beds here. The second is for her live-in companion. The room has her original furnishing just as she last used them.

Mary Packer Cummings

Mary Packer Cummings supported many charities. The one, that she is most remember for, is the elevator at St. Marks Church in Jim Thorpe.

She attended this church and as she aged, she felt that an elevator would be make life easier for herself and her fellow churchgoers. She requested to be the first one to ride the elevator.

Mary traveled extensively. She died in China during one of her travels. When her body was returned to Mauch Chunk for her funeral, Mary Packer Cummings, resting in her coffin, was the first to ride the new elevator.

View Victorian Splendor

“You won’t find another house museum quite like this,” said Museum Director Ron Sheehan. “It’s a treasure that you can’t find anywhere else. Contents of most historical homes have been removed. Here, everything is just the way it was when it was last lived in—right down to the brushes and combs in the bathrooms.”

The Asa Packer Mansion is open 11:00 a.m. To 4:15 p.m., every day through October 31 and weekends in November. Call 570-325-3229 for further information.