History's Headlines: Mauch Chunk's Glory Days

Original airdate: 9/23/2013 | As they have since the 19th century, tourists still flock to the Lehigh Gorge and its magnificent Glen Onoko falls. Sadly, it seldom makes the news except to record some unfortunates who lose their footing while hiking on the slippery slope.
But about 120 years ago the place had a far different reputation among tourists. At the height of the summer season, two railroad stations- one for the Lehigh Valley Railroad the other for the New Jersey Central- busily conveyed passengers from the hot, steamy cities of smoking factories to the clear air and mountain quiet of the magnificent Hotel Wahnetah, a turreted Victorian vacation resort.
Generously supplied with rocking chairs for those who were not yet known as senior citizens, and also equipped with a dance pavilion for visitors interested in a stately two step or a more robust waltz, the Wahnetah seemed to have it all. And those who had no interest in either type of recreation and who claimed to be blasé about the hotel’s sweeping vistas could occupy a stool at its 84 foot long bar.
But a little over 100 years later, thanks to a tragic fire, changing modes of transportation and the desire for different types of recreation, all that is left of the Wahnetah is crumbling foundations, faded, sepia photographs and colorful, hand-tinted postcards.
The origins of the Hotel Wahnetah are rooted in the 1880s. In 1886 the Glen Onoko Tavern opened on its site to provide hundreds of railroad passengers who came to gaze at the falls with food and drink. During the busy season, one and sometimes two car trains, pulled by a small steam engine named the Lilliput, left Mauch Chunk every 15 minutes for Glen Onoko.
- Original article [Abridged] by Frank Whelan
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[@samanthab1923]

Glad the trains 🚂 are back!