At 1,320 feet above sea level, the rock ledge on the Mauch Chunk Ridge called Flagstaff has drawn people to a view where you can see forever for over a century and a half—perhaps much longer than that if you believe the legend that the Lenni Lenape once climbed Flagstaff to look out upon the valley.

Flagstaff is indeed a place where legends are made. Many of the stories about Flagstaff rely on legends—some of which may well be true.

Here’s the legend of how Flagstaff got its name. At the summit of the mountain stood a stately hemlock tree. Sometime in the early 1860s, a bolt of lightening struck the tree in such a manner that it caused its sap to vaporize, blowing off its bark and branches.

In this time of the Civil War, a patriotic young man climbed the tree and nailed old glory to its peak—making it into a flagstaff. From this vantage point, the flag was seen throughout the valley until the wind tore it to shreds.

Another legend recounts that just a few years later—during the Franco­-Prussian War of 1870, sympathizers mounted the Prussian flag to the flagstaff. The following night French partisans, rather than climb the tree to remove the flag, cut down the hemlock.

Perhaps all this faux militarism annoyed the earliest owners of the property, William and Sarah Farren, because in 1870, they sold it to John C. Dolon. 

The town of Dolansburg was at the base of the mountain. In 1863, Asa Packer purchased both Dolansburg and the wetland town closer to the Lehigh River called Burlington, as a site for the Packerton Yards of his Lehigh Valley Railroad. Dolan and Dolon are likely spelling variations of the same name. Perhaps Mr. Dolon took the money from the sale of his land and used it to purchase the Flagstaff property.

Around 1872, a wagon road was constructed from the Mansion House Hotel to Flagstaff with the intension of constructing a grand hotel at the mountaintop. The project was never built but remains of the wagon road are still visible on the southeastern side of Flagstaff Mountain.

July 4, 1898 was a banner day for Mauch Chunk and Flagstaff. America was in a patriotic swell following the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor. The cries for revenge from the Hearst newspapers set off the Spanish-American War. Recent evidence indicates that the explosion came from within the ship; possibly a boiler explosion.

The call to war in 1898, inspired the Sons of Veterans of Mauch Chunk and a delegation from the Lehigh Valley Railroad led by Charles Ambruster, to unfurl the largest American flag ever flown at the time, from a 1,500 foot long cable strung between Flagstaff and Mauch Chunk Mountain. The flag measured 75 feet-8 inches by 57 feet and was constructed from 1,012 yards of material with each star nearly a yard wide. The event drew 10,000 spectators to hear bands and a 200-voice choir sing, “Avenge the Maine” and view a two hour fireworks display. Wind destroyed the flag a month later. The record was ceded to a 90 x 60 foot flag later flown from the George Washington Bridge.

 Continued in Part 2 - Flagstaff’s Trolley Era