The Dolon House
Walking along Broadway in Jim Thorpe, the Dolon House immediately stands out. Its turret, elaborate roofline, porches and decorative brickwork make it easy to imagine this street during the prosperous years when the town was still known as Mauch Chunk.
The house was completed around 1888 for John C. Dolon, a prominent local businessman who was described as one of the pioneers of Mauch Chunk. Dolon was a jeweler and also became involved in the town’s financial life, serving as a banker for the powerful Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company and as a founding member of the Second National Bank of Mauch Chunk.
His house reflected the wealth that coal, railroads, industry and tourism had brought to this small mountain community. Philadelphia architect Thomas Roney Williamson designed the residence in the Queen Anne Victorian style, creating the wonderfully irregular appearance that caught my attention as we walked past, the octagonal tower and turret, elongated chimneys, patterned shingles, projecting bays and porches.
The impressive craftsmanship continued inside. Much of the original hand-carved woodwork survives, along with stained-glass windows, an elaborate staircase and an Italian-style mosaic floor in the entrance foyer. These details provide a glimpse of the level of craftsmanship and ornamentation expected in the homes of Mauch Chunk’s successful families during the late nineteenth century.
The house has survived remarkably well. Rather than being divided beyond recognition or demolished as the fortunes of the old coal town changed, it has been preserved and adapted for a new purpose.
What interested me most as we walked through Jim Thorpe was how much of the old Mauch Chunk remains visible. The Dolon House isn’t a reconstructed interpretation of the town’s prosperous past. It is one of the houses built by the people who experienced that prosperity firsthand.
Standing on Broadway more than 135 years later, its tower, porches and elaborate Victorian details still help tell the story of the remarkable little town that once called itself Mauch Chunk.
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