Lehigh River & Canal at Jim Thorpe, PA

Chapter 3 - Growth Along the Lehigh River

Early settlers took advantage of the river as a source of water, transportation and power. The first industries included a tannery, mills and logging.

Logging was a big business. The virgin forests of the Lehigh were clear cut to provide a source of fuel and building materials for the settlements. Later, the logs were used to build canal boats and canal locks. It's hard to believe that the beautiful Lehigh forests were clear cut 150 years ago. The forests have regrown in the upper Lehigh but in the Lehigh Valley, the land remains deforested as farms and more recently, building lots.

As time passed, deposits of coal, iron, slate and limestone were discovered. Each became a major industry and made the Lehigh region the heart of America's Industrial Revolution.

What started the Industrialization of the Lehigh?

In 1791, Philip was hunting for a millstone. He noticed some "stone coal" which was later verified to be anthracite. A Philadelphia group, the Lehigh Coal Mining Company, led by Colonel Jacob Weiss and Charles Cist, bought the rights to Ginter's mine and were deeded the land by the state of Pennsylvania. Through the early 1800's, they tried unsuccessfully to tame the Lehigh River and bring the coal to Philadelphia.

In 1810, Josiah White & Erskine Hazard acquired ownership of the Schuylkill Falls at Philadelphia. Josiah White developed a dam and lock system for navigation purposes. Here, he built a nail manufacturing plant and a wire drawing plant. He used soft Virginia coal in his iron smelting operations.

During the War of 1812, Philadelphia was cut off from its supply of Virginia coal. Although there was high demand for wire and nails for the war effort, White and Hazard's operations had to be closed for lack of coal. They heard about the vast supplies of coal at Mauch Chunk and decided to inspect the town and study the Lehigh River as a source of navigation.

In 1817, Josiah White, Erskine Hazard and George Hauto formed the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company. They first tried to control the Lehigh River by building a series of dams. When the spring thaw came, a powerful freshet destroyed the dams.

In 1827, Josiah White conceived of a canal linking the coal mines at Jim Thorpe to the markets at Philadelphia. By 1832, his Lehigh Canal was carrying 100 ton barges of coal from Jim Thorpe to Easton and down the Delaware River to Philadelphia. The canal system was later lengthened north to White Haven and, again, south from Easton to Bristol.

How was the coal moved to the Lehigh River & Canal?

Coal was first mined at Summit Hill, at the top of Pisgah Mountain about 9 miles west of Jim Thorpe. In 1819, a route was graded which allowed anthracite coal to be hauled over the road bed in two ton capacity, horse drawn wagons.

In May of 1827, The Mauch Chunk, Summit Hill and Switchback Railroad, the first coal railroad and the third railroad in the United States, began operations. This railroad, known as the Switchback, used the steep descent of the mountain to carry the coal cars to the Lehigh River. Mules or horses rode down with coal cars and pulled the empty cars back up the mountain.

The coal train was originally called the Gravity Railroad. The tracks were wooden with iron wear surfaces. Each car held 1.5 tons of coal. A safety car equipped with a band type brake rode on the down hill side to slow and stop the train. The nine mile decent took twenty minutes with cars reaching speeds of up to 50 miles per hour.

In 1844, stationary steam engines replaced the mules and horses. Later, in 1872, direct railroad service came to Summit Hill and the Swichback was retired from coal hauling. It became a popular tourist attraction, offering an 18 mile scenic ride through the mountains. The Switchback served as a model for the San Francisco cable car and the modern roller coaster.

The Switchback Railroad was taken apart and auctioned as scrap metal to Isaac Weiner for $18,000 on September 2, 1939. The roadbed right of way has been converted into a 16 mile recreational trail that begins at Mauch Chunck Park. For further information contact the Switchback Gravity Railroad Foundation, PO Box 73, Jim Thorpe, PA 18229-0073.

Continued: Lehigh River & Canal - Chapter 4 - The Lehigh Canal