National Register of Historic Places

Mauch Chunk and Summit Hill Switchback Railroad

Jim Thorpe, Carbon County, Pennsylvania
Listed
June 2, 1976
Type
Site
Period
Listed
Ref No.
76001616

About this property

The Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway, also known as the Mauch Chunk and Summit Railroad and occasionally shortened to Mauch Chunk Railway, was a coal-hauling railroad in the mountains of Pennsylvania that was built in 1827 and operated until 1932. It was the second gravity railway constructed in the United States, which was used by the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company to transport coal from Summit Hill downhill to the Lehigh canal. The railway operated on 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge track, and it was not utilized as a common carrier that linked with other railroads. The rail line was laid on top of the company's earlier 9-mile (14 km)-constant-descent-graded wagon road. The railway operated for more than half a century as a tourist attraction after it ceased day-to-day operations as a freight railroad in 1872. The onset of the Great Depression resulted in its eventual closure. Pennsylvania's first railroad and first anthracite carrier opened on Saturday, May 5th, 1827, when seven cars of coal passed from the Summit Hill mines of the L.C.&N. Company to their canal at Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, descending 936 feet (285 m) in the nine-mile (14 km) trip.

Location

Jim Thorpe, Carbon County, Pennsylvania
40.85296, -75.78701

Categories

INDUSTRYENGINEERINGTRANSPORTATION
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Nesquehoning High School
Modern
1.4 mi
Grotto, The-Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine
Listed
1.9 mi
Carbon County Jail
Civil War
2.3 mi
Old Mauch Chunk Historic District
Listed
2.5 mi
St. Mark's Episcopal Church
Industrial
2.6 mi

Questions about this property

When was Mauch Chunk and Summit Hill Switchback Railroad listed on the National Register?

Mauch Chunk and Summit Hill Switchback Railroad was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 2, 1976.

What type of historic resource is Mauch Chunk and Summit Hill Switchback Railroad?

Mauch Chunk and Summit Hill Switchback Railroad is classified as a site in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Mauch Chunk and Summit Hill Switchback Railroad?

The period of significance for Mauch Chunk and Summit Hill Switchback Railroad is recorded as the listed era.

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