Puneet Varma (Editor)

Asa Packer Mansion

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Built
  
1852

NRHP Reference #
  
74001765

Designated PHMC
  
May 14, 1971

Phone
  
+1 570-325-3229

Architect
  
Samuel Sloan

Architectural style
  
Late Victorian, Other

Designated NHL
  
February 4, 1985

Opened
  
1852

Added to NRHP
  
30 December 1974

Asa Packer Mansion

Location
  
Packer Rd., Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania

Address
  
Packer Hill Ave, Jim Thorpe, PA 18229, USA

Similar
  
Pocono Mountains, Harry Packer Mansion, Mauch Chunk Museum, Bear Mountain Butterfly, Mauch Chunk Lake Park

Asa packer mansion jim thorpe pa


The Asa Packer Mansion, in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, United States, was the home of Asa Packer (1805–1879), coal and railroad magnate and founder of Lehigh University. It is one of the best preserved Italianate Villa homes in the United States.

Contents

Harry packer mansion jim thorpe pa


History

Packer commissioned it to be built in what was then the Borough of Mauch Chunk. It was completed in 1861. The architect was Samuel Sloan of Philadelphia who also designed the Southern Mansion Hotel in Cape May, New Jersey, and Longwood in Natchez, Mississippi.

Museum

Upon the death of Mary Packer Cummings, Mr. Packer's daughter, the home was willed to the Borough of Mauch Chunk to remain as a memorial to her father and his many accomplishments. The borough, not certain what to do with the home, closed it, and for 44 years the home sat idle. The Jim Thorpe Lions Club, looking to sponsor a new community project, approached the borough about opening the home.

The home is owned by the town of Jim Thorpe and financially controlled by the Jim Thorpe Lions Club. Ava M. Bretzik is the Director and Historian of the Mansion Museum and oversees the day-to-day operations.Ronald J Sheehan serves as Executive Director of the Mansion Museum as is in charge of overall administration of the National Historic Landmark property.

The house contains the original furnishings. It became a museum, the Asa Packer Mansion Museum, and was opened for tours on Memorial Day of 1956.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, and was further declared a National Historic Landmark in 1985. It is located in the Old Mauch Chunk Historic District.

It is located on Packer Avenue in Jim Thorpe. The home of Packer's son, Harry Packer Mansion, designed by Sloan's protegee Addison Hutton, is on the same road, and is also listed on the National Register.

References

Asa Packer Mansion Wikipedia