MAUCH CHUNK  , a

borough and the county-seat of Carbon county, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., on the W. bank of the Lehigh river and on the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company's Canal, 46 m. by rail W.N.W. of Easton . Pop . (189o), 4101; (1900), 4029 (571 foreign-born); (1910), 3952 . Mauch Chunk is served by the Central of New Jersey railway and, at East Mauch Chunk, across the river, connected by electric railway, by the Lehigh Valley railway . The borough lies in the valley of the Lehigh river, along which runs one of its few streets and in another deeply cut valley at right angles to the river; through this second valley east and west runs the main street, on which is an electric railway; parallel to it on the south is High Street, formerly an Irish settlement; half way up the steep hill, and on the north at the top of the opposite hill is the ward of Upper Mauch Chunk, reached by the electric railway . An incline railway, originally used to transport coal from the mines to the river and named the " Switch-Back," now carries tourists up the steep slopes of Mount Pisgah and Mount Jefferson, to Summit Hill, a rich anthracite coal region, with a famous " burning mine," which has been on fire since 1832, and then back . An electric railway to the top of Flagstaff Mountain, built in 1900, was completed in 1901 to Lehighton, 4 M. south- east of Mauch Chunk, where coal is mined and silk and stoves are manufactured, and which had a population in 1900 of 4629, and in 19x0 of J316 . Immediately above Mauch Chunk the river forms a horseshoe; on the opposite side, connected by a bridge, is the borough of East Mauch Chunk (pop . 1900, 3458; 1910, 3548); and 2 M . Up the river is Glen Onoko, with fine falls and cascades . The principal buildings in Mauch Chunk are the county court house, a county gaol, a Young Men's Christian Association building, and the Dimmick Memorial Library (189o) . The borough was long a famous shipping point for coal .

It now has ironworks and foundries, and in East Mauch Chunk there are silk

mills . The name is Indian and means " Bear Mountain," this English name being used for a mountain on the east side of the river . The borough was founded by the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company in 1818 . This company began in 1827 the operation of the "Switch-Back," probably the first railway in the country to be used for transporting coal . In 1831 the town was opened to individual enterprise, and in 1850 it was incorporated as a borough . Mauch Chunk was for many years the home of Asa Packer, the projector and builder of the Lehigh Valley railroad from Mauch Chunk to Easton .