Carbon County was created on March 13, 1843, from parts of Northampton and Monroe Counties. It was so named because of the large deposits of anthracite coal in the region. Jim Thorpe, the county seat, was originally incorporated as the borough of Mauch Chunk, an Indian name which means “Bear Mountain.” The first European settlers, Moravian missionaries, established the mission of Gnadenhutten, now Lehighton, in 1745. They lived alongside the Lenape and Delaware Indians, apportioning land and homes to converts, for the better part of a decade.In the early 1750’s, however, hostilities between Europeans and Native Americans began to boil over, leading to massacres on both sides, much as they did in many other parts of the region.

In 1791, Phillip Ginther, a hunter, was credited with the discovery that the “black stones” he found, later known as anthracite coal, would burn. It is entirely possible, however, that the Native tribes had been using it for much longer. Whatever the history, Carbon County grew as mining companies figured out not only how to use, but how to transport the fuel. Its use became critical in the War of 1812, when the British blocked bituminous coal shipments from Virginia to northern cities. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the mining industry was often crippled by labor disputes, disputes about safety and fair wages, disputes which crystalized the ongoing struggle between labor and capital.

A century ago, nearly 175,000 people worked in the anthracite mines. Today, the mines have all but closed due to economic and energy diversification, environmental concerns, a general decline in profitability, and a population at odds with the horrible health costs of deep mining. Carbon County has other resources: the Lehigh River is one of the finest white water rafting rivers in the East, and there are several beautiful State Parks through which to hike or cycle.