In 1892, a transit company was formed to provide trolley service from downtown Mauch Chunk to the Switchback Depot on Packer Hill. Operation began in 1893. It was extended to East Mauch Chunk in 1898 and extended over Flagstaff to the Lehighton Fair Grounds in 1901.

The commanding view at the summit was an early attraction. As with many rail companies of that period, they realized that creation of a park along their route would improve ridership.

The Switchback Gravity Railroad completed the Flagstaff Junction station to connect to the trolley the same year. Remnants of the station are visible near the Jim Thorpe Water Plant. Later, a swimming pool would be built near the station.

The trolley ownership changed hands and eventually became the Carbon Transit Trolley Company. At Flagstaff around 1908, Carbon Transit constructed an amusement building with a capacity of 2,000 persons.

In 1911, the pavilion opened at Flagstaff Park and it featured a May Pole dance to the music of the Kauffman Orchestra. The park became popular for private dances, shows, and picnics.

The pavilion burned and a new $10,000 ballroom was built in 1913. The day before it was to open, it burned to the ground. The ballroom was rebuilt. The site had a restaurant, a bowling alley, a shooting gallery, a long sliding board, a Ferris wheel and a carrousel. The carousel was shipped to Chicago and became part of the Century of Progress Exposition in 1933.

Flagstaff Park attracted excursion tourists and local church groups for picnics. By 1914, there was a regular program of dances. The Alpine Syncopators, led by Vollmer Miller, became a favorite at Flagstaff in 1919, and included the Dorsey Brothers of Lansford. Jimmy Dorsey, 15 (cornet and saxophone) and Tommy Dorsey, 13, (trombone - happy 100th birthday to Tommy Dorsey on Nov. 19) joined Miller (saxophone), Henry Butler (piano), William Butler (banjo), and Haman Miller (drums). When the Dorsey Brothers organized the Scranton Sirens in 1921, the Syncopators disbanded.

Area couples met at Flagstaff dances in the “Ballroom in the Clouds” where a respite from the music led to romantic moonlit walks along the mountain summit. Jim Thorpe Councilwoman Edie Lukasevich’s mother, Mabel Geiger from Lehighton, and her dad, Joseph McLaughlan from Summit Hill, met at a Flagstaff dance. So did current Flagstaff owner Tim Markley’s grandparents, Katherine Sharp and John Gallagher.

In 1925, the trolley discontinued trips to Flagstaff Park and, in 1929, ceased all operations. The Mauch Chunk Bus Company replaced the trolley and took people to Flagstaff on weekends beginning in the 1930s.

During the day, people would climb along the slope of Flagstaff’s mountain to pick “the biggest and the best huckleberries,” said Edie Lukasevich. “My brother and his friends would pick 30 quarts of berries and I would deliver to people bake pies. He earned money to go camping.”

In 1938, the WPA constructed a Flagstaff Road detour to provide a bypass for the impending closure of the Lehighton – Mauch Chunk Road (Rt. 209.) The road went from Beaver Street in Packerton to Lentz Trail at Hackelbernie. Workers installed posts as a precaution for "uncontrollable" cars and trucks in order to check the "flight of runaway vehicles." Large 4 by 8-foot warning signs alerted motorists to go into second gear at steep grades.

In the spring of 1939, Steward K. Evans – the former general manager of the defunct Switchback Railway Company became the operator of Flagstaff. He purchased the park in 1950.

Continued in Part 3 - Roof Top of the World