OLD JAIL IN JIM THORPE & MOLLY MAGUIRE PICTURES

P-DAY TRIP TO JIM THORPE!!

Jim Thorpe is a beautiful little tourist town nestled in the mountains near Hazleton. Its history begins around 1817 and was first named Mauch Chunk (Indian for Bear Place). The town was founded on the mining of coal and is rich with stories of poor Irish miners, Molly Maguires and Millionaires. This piece of coal is 1,400 pounds and sits in the town square.

I can't believe Ross got Betsy Fairall and myself to pose for this picture.  The train there is a rather famous part of history transporting tons and tons of coal to New York.

This was a very interesting old gargoyle that caught my eye. 

This is "The Old Jail" of Jim Thorpe built in 1871 and quite historical.  Most of its history comes through the hangings of Molly Maguires that belonged to a coal miner's secret organization.  There was a movie with Sean Connery made about the "Mollies".  There were a lot of killings that took place during the late 1870's..  

The gallows stood in the middle of the prison so all prisoners could witness the hangings.

This is the bottom or floor that dropped down.  

This solemn person is showing an actual window that was in one of the upper cells. One prisoner, day by day, dug out the window and in the mean time, starved himself but saved his butter and soap till he could get small enough to strip down, lather himself down and squeeze through that tiny space.  Tammy would not have EVER made it.  It was about 6 inches wide.  Yes, he was caught.  It took place at noon while people were lunching on their pouches.

This was one of the "nicer" cells because it could accommodate four men.  

Ross thought it would be good to get one of these for a spendthrift wife or misbehaved grandchild.  Just kidding!!

During one of the "Mollie" trials, a prisoner proclaimed his innocence, but he was sentenced to death.  On hanging day, he slapped his hand, dirty from the cell floor, on the wall and exclaimed "This is the hand of an innocent man!"  Over the next century, this permanent hand print on the cell was has resisted cleaning, repainting and even re-plastering.  A couple of days after every attempt to cover it up, the hand print comes back.

The St. Mark's Episcopal Church was built in 1867 and is VERY ornate and beautiful inside.  It was built on a hillside like the rest of the town.

This is a typical street with beautiful old architectural continuous buildings.  Just love the front yards.  Yes, we all just walk down the middle of the street but move to the side if a car comes.