Nice M.A. Kleckner view of the coal schutes circa 1871.

James Belford Home?

Here's an circa 1875 - 1880 photo showing the Jail in the background.    The house in the foreground might be that of James Belford which was diagonally across from the Jail.    Notice the outbuildings and the camera (possibly) on the tripod stand.

Lumber Plane on Mt. Pisgah?

Another rare photo of old Mauch Chunk - this time looking from Mt. Pisgah over to East Mauch Chunk.    In the foreground is probably the Lumber Plane with the Packer Dam showing as well.

A Beginning

I'm hoping to start up some conversations about the history of old Mauch Chunk through this blog by posting a number of old photos, newspaper articles, etc. Probably will concentrate on one area of town and then another with the photos - articles will be whatever I'm running into as I read the old papers. If you have photos, stories, whatever to contribute, let me know!

To start things off, here's a relatively rare stereoview image of the coal schutes taken by A.M. Allen of Pottsville. View #313 Coal Schutes at Mauch Chunk. The view is very faint, but is taken from an interesting angle - through the cross supports of the MC to EMC bridge looking down river. Taken sometime prior to 1872.

Here are a couple of close-ups - plenty of canal boats and the schutes complex: