Manny DeCosta was selected by Tom and Betty Lou McBride to restore the Fraternal Order of Eagles. It had water damage inside and the McBrides wanted to restore the large glass windows that had once existed when the building was used for retail. 

When renovation of the Fraternal Order of Eagles building began, the first floor brick façade was replaced with large windows. 

The Fraternal Order of Eagles being converted to The Treasure Shop. The brick façade has been removed and the windows are being framed. 

View from inside the second floor oriel, an overhung bay window. The oriel had sagged and Tamaqua architect Dan Poncavage worked with the McBrides to stabilize the structure

Part 8 – New Shop in Town

Today, Jim Thorpe, the county seat of Carbon County, is a tourist destination. Nestled in a valley flanked by mountains on three sides, a pristine river dividing its major communities and a sparkling creek cascading through a stone archway beneath the downtown, this Victorian town, among the largest listed on the National Historic Register is—well, frankly, romantic. 

Arriving soon after its infrastructure was in place, Tom and Betty Lou McBride saw a future for the town of Jim Thorpe and purchased the Fraternal Order of Eagles building (now the Treasure Shop,) sight unseen. When Betty Lou saw the building for the first time, she said simply, “Oh my!” 

What she saw was water damage to the building’s interior from years without repair to the tar-patched steel roof. All the ceilings had collapsed. The building was designed with cast iron gutters on the inside of the building so as not to disturb the building’s façade. The gutters had clogged and cracked and water had run down the walls. 

The first floor was sagging and there appeared to be termite damage. “Don’t worry,” advised Joan Wildoner - their realtor. “Those termites have been dead for years.” 

The front of the building was largely bricked over. Several years earlier, the first floor had large glass windows for Oberson’s Clothing Store. The FOE bricked it over when they let Oberson’s go and relocated their bar to the first floor. The FOE later found that they were not able to continue without the store as a source of income. 

And possibly worse of all, the second floor oriel (a bay window projecting from an outside wall) that overhung the entrance to the first floor, sagged several inches. 

The McBrides worked with Dan Poncavage, a Tamaqua architect to raise the oriel and stabilize the structure and hired restoration contractor, Manny DeCosta, to rebuild the front with large glass windows. 

The First New Shop in Jim Thorpe

Some say that the most obvious sign of the resurrection of Jim Thorpe began in the fall of 1982 when the McBrides opened the Treasure Shop—the first permanent shop in a renovated downtown building. 

This was the first retail business for either Tom – a realtor or Betty Lou - a legal secretary, and they weren’t sure what to expect. The shop sold gifts and, with the Christmas season approaching, initially did well. But soon, they were in for a long, slow winter when “making three dollars was considered a good day at the shop.” 

Tom maintained his focus on developing the town and next purchased the Vathis Building, (the location of Anne’s Early Attic.) It had previously been the site of an ACME market and had a major fire. Again, the McBrides had Manny DeCosta restore the building’s front façade. 

The McBrides formed the Jim Thorpe Civic Association in January 1981. It later became the Commerce Association and eventually evolved into the Chamber of Commerce. 

The McBrides daughter, Peggy, was 12 years old when they opened the Treasure Shop. She worked there during her teenage years and later, bought the business from them. The McBrides would later buy the Old Jail when it became available in 1994, but by then, the town of Jim Thorpe was well into its resurrection. 

The story continues in Part 9 - Main Street Manager—Now it was 1980 and Jim Thorpe was looking to hire a Downtown Manager.