Our friend Mike Knutson over at Reimagine Rural saw our post about Jim Thorpe, and this got him thinking about a recent post he made about third places.  Third places are those hot spots in your community where you can share ideas, such as coffee shops.  Mike goes into detail about the characteristics of third places here.  Third places are neutral ground,  accessible and accommodating, and are places where you can routinely run into regulars.   In case you are wondering, the first place is your home and second place is your work.

How important are third places to you?  Should we make a special effort to design communities with third places?

Photo by Brady Dale

I could say a lot about the small towns in the coal-mining area of northeast Pennsylvania.  I am a product of the region–my grandparents came over from Italy to work as laborers in the mines, and eventually settled in the towns of Pittson and West Pittston.   Pittston welcomed laborers from southern Italy, and West Pittson welcomed the higher-standing northerners, at least that’s what my Aunt Rose tells me.  One of my grandfathers was from the north and one was from the south, so they settled in the appropriate towns, separated by the Susquehanna River.  Regardless of their class, both grandfathers worked in the mines, and, in the case of  my mother’s father, Cesare, died in them.

I’ve been traveling to this region during the holidays for my entire life to visit with my extended family, but I’ve never done much exploring beyond the homesteads.  However, this past Christmas, an old friend from high school said he would be in the area.  Rick and his wife Anna would be visiting Anna’s family in Hometown, PA.  Since we both liked to explore historic small towns, Rick suggested meeting up in the nearby Jim Thorpe for lunch.

The first thing you assume when you visit Jim Thorpe is that the town’s namesake, the famed Native-American Olympian and overall sportsman, was a native of the town.  You would be wrong to assume that.  The town, originally named Mauch Chunk, was looking to rename itself to attract businesses in 1953, the year of Jim’s death.  After negotiations with his widow, the town “bought his remains,” erected a monument, and renamed the town in his honor.  He was from the midwest, although he did attend the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in nearby Carlisle, PA.

Jim’s name was pretty well-known around that time, but I have no idea whether the scheme caused a positive blip in the economic health of the town.  Now, what I really want to know is how they got their original name, Mauch Chunk.  Can someone help me with that?

There are several other historical nuggets that really caught my attention during my brief visit here.  One of the trials of the Molly Maguires took place in Jim Thorpe.  The Molly MaGuires were a secret organization of Irish men who banded together for protection during the conflicts the miners had with mine bosses during those days.  In the late 1800s, labor unions were on the rise because the workers needed to improve working conditions–12-hr workdays, child labor, fires, etc.  The mine bosses would use mine police and private security forces, such as the Pinkertons, to control strikes and the overall population, and the miners would counter with their secret organizations.  Anyway, there was a whole lot of violence in those days.  The MaGuires would probably be considered terrorists in today’s terminology, since they were a little on the rough side, handing out coffin notices and such.

Anyway, they were infiltrated by a Pinkerton detective, and several of them were eventually brought to trial for murder.  Four were hung near the old prison in Jim Thorpe, which still stands.  One of the executed man’s hand prints is reputedly still on the wall of the prison there, in some way proving his innocence.  There is a Sean Connery movie about them, called the Molly Maguires–it’s worth seeing if you are into this kind of stuff.

Anyway, we ate lunch at Flow, which is located in the Carbon County Cultural Project.  Lunch was good, we had a pizza appetizer, and I had a veggie burger and some coffee.  The waitress was very nice as she explained all she knew about the shocking truth that Jim Thorpe never lived here.  The Stabin Morykin Gallery adjoins the restaurant. The building is an old wire mill, which later became a silk mill and dressmaker’s factory.

There are a few B&Bs and hotels in town and other interesting restaurants.  This town is very picturesque, running along a mountain ridge on one side and a stream on the other.  One other cool fact about the town is that they have a gravity railroad, which served as the model for the first roller coaster.

We would definitely like to offer them smallwander membership.  There are several other nearby towns that are worth visiting as well.  Stay tuned as we explore this region further.