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Jim Thorpe (1818) - Formerly Known as Mauch Chunk


DonRocks

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I hadn't been to Jim Thorpe in decades - it's a place that everyone should visit for a long weekend. It's a charming mountain town, 80-miles north of Philadelphia, and 100-miles west of New York City, in Eastern-Central Pennsylvania.

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Even though Jim Thorpe is touristy, it's also a really charming, nice place to spend a couple of days. There are several decent places to stay (the Inn at Jim Thorpe, for example), and Jim Thorpe's final resting place is also here in town. The first roller coaster in the U.S., the Mauch Chunk Switchback Gravity Railroad, was here (you can still ride a mountain coaster at Camelback, less than an hour away).

My favorite Jim Thorpe legend (about the man; not the town): Thorpe was arguably the greatest all-around athlete in history. In the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, Thorpe won the decathlon and the pentathlon (winning 8 of the 15 events outright!) - King Gustav V awarded him his medals, and said, "You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world," to which Thorpe replied, "Thanks, King." 

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