Who was Jim Thorpe?
One would logically assume the name was derived from a town hero. A Native American icon and one of the most popular sports figures of the first half of the 20th century, Jim Thorpe was an Olympic gold medalist, professional baseball and football star, and the first president of the National Football League. In the mid-1900s, the town of Mauch Chunk became impoverished as the mining industry declined, and in an act of desperation for tourism dollars, changed its name to honor him. In actuality, Jim Thorpe had never been in the town. But when no other place would erect a suitable memorial to this American hero, the town council negotiated with his family to exhume his body, move his grave and erect a monument in his honor. In 1954, a fitting tribute to America?s greatest athlete was dedicated, the town changed its name, and the name Mauch Chunk slipped away into history. Incidentally, the town didn’t gain the reknown it had hoped for with the name change. It wasn’t until the mid-’80s th
