Visit Victorian Splendor: The Asa Packer Mansion Museum, Jim Thorpe PA

Open For Tours Saturdays & Sundays During April & May!

An Italianate Villa

The Mansion was the home of philanthropist, railroad magnate, and founder of Lehigh University, Asa Packer. Built in 1861 by architect Samuel Sloan of Philadelphia, the home was constructed over a span of two years and cost a total of $14,000 dollars, the equivalent of $2.3 million dollars today.

Topped by a red-ribbed tin roof and a central cupola or belvedere, the home was built over a cast iron frame and consists of 3 stories, 18 rooms and approximately 11,000 square feet of living space.

The Mansion rests near Mount Pisgah, home of the Switchback Railroad, the first railroad to be built in Pennsylvania.

A National Historic Landmark

Mary Packer Cummings is the reason why The Mansion remains as part of local history today. In 1912, she willed her family's home and all its contents to the Borough of Mauch Chunk where it would remain as a memorial to her father and his accomplishments. At that time, however, the borough was not certain what to do with the home, and so, it was closed until 1956. In the forty-four years (almost half a century) that The Mansion remained closed, nothing was taken from the home; nothing was vandalized.

The Jim Thorpe Lions were named as Trustees to The Mansion in 1954, and the home has been open to the public since Memorial Day of 1956. The Mansion was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985 and has been conducting tours for 52 years.