Visiting the Jim Thorpe Memorial in Carbon County

Jim Thorpe Greatest Athlete in the World inscription on his crypt in Carbon County Pennsylvania.

The Jim Thorpe Memorial in Carbon County is the final resting place of the man voted “The Greatest Athlete of the First Half of the 20th Century” by the Associated Press.

Jim Thorpe playing professional football.
Jim Thorpe playing professional football (public domain image).

Jim Thorpe was the first Native American to win a gold medal for the United States in the Olympics.

Jim Thorpe's 1912 Olympics accomplishments summarized on this informational display at his memorial.
Jim Thorpe’s 1912 Olympics accomplishments summarized on this informational display at his memorial.

Thorpe eventually became a professional football, baseball, and basketball player.

Jim Thorpe playing professional baseball.
Jim Thorpe playing professional baseball (public domain image).

In 1920, he became the first president of the American Professional Football League, which would become the National Football League, and he is now included in the pro football, college football, U.S. Olympic, and national track and field halls of fame.

Jim Thorpe was the first president of what became the National Football League.
Jim Thorpe was the first president of what became the National Football League.

Jim Thorpe’s Early Life

Jim was Sac and Fox and Potawatomi, raised in present-day Oklahoma on the Sac and Fox Reservation, prior to Oklahoma statehood. 

Informational display about Jim Thorpe is his youth.
Informational display about Jim Thorpe is his youth.

At age 16 he enrolled at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, PA, where he became an All-American in football, playing halfback, defender, punter, and place-kicker for legendary coach Glenn “Pop” Warner.

Information about Jim Thorpe's years at the Carlisle Indian School.
Information about Jim Thorpe’s years at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School.

In addition to football, he mastered nearly every sport offered at Carlisle, including basketball, lacrosse, tennis, handball, bowling, golf, swimming, hockey, boxing, gymnastics, ballroom dancing, and track and field.

Jim Thorpe performing a discus throw.
Jim Thorpe performing a discus throw.

Jim Thorpe the Olympian

At the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, Thorpe won both the pentathlon and the decathlon, and finished tied in fourth place for the high jump and seventh place in the long jump.

Jim Thorpe 1912 Olympics accomplishments.

In 1913, he was controversially stripped of his gold medals after the International Olympic Committee no longer recognized him as an amateur athlete due to his time on a minor league baseball team in 1909 and 1910.

Olympic gold medalist Jim Thorpe (public domain image).
Olympic gold medalist Jim Thorpe (public domain image).

His medals were eventually reinstated in 1982; nearly three decades after his death.

Jim Thorpe 1912 Olympics sculpture.
Jim Thorpe 1912 Olympics sculpture at his memorial in Carbon County.

The Jim Thorpe Memorial Controversy

How Jim Thorpe came to be buried in Carbon County, Pennsylvania is a somewhat controversial story, even to this day.

Mauch Chunk was renamed Jim Thorpe in 1954.
Display at the Jim Thorpe, PA Visitor Center.

After Jim passed away at age 64 in 1953, his third wife, Patricia, arranged to sell his remains to two towns in eastern Pennsylvania called Mauch Chunk and East Mauch Chunk.

Mauch Chunk train station and visitor center.
Mauch Chunk train station and visitor center.

Thorpe’s remains were sold on the condition that the towns combine, call themselves “Jim Thorpe,” and erect a monument to Thorpe that included his remains.

Jim Thorpe Memorial Park in Carbon County Pennsylvania.
Jim Thorpe Memorial Park in Carbon County.

The Mauch Chunk towns were searching for an economic boost, hoping the name change and memorial to the celebrated football player would help it become the home of the proposed Pro Football Hall of Fame, and lead to the construction of other tourist destinations as well.

Jim Thorpe Train Station.
Jim Thorpe Train Station.

In June 2010, two of Jim Thorpe’s sons sued the town of Jim Thorpe, in an attempt to have their father’s remains returned to his native Oklahoma.

Sculpture of Jim Thorpe playing football at his memorial in Carbon County Pennsylvania.
Sculpture of Jim Thorpe playing football at his memorial in Carbon County.

Their case made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 2015 refused to hear the case, effectively bringing the matter to a close.

Jim Thorpe as a member of the New York Giants baseball team.
Jim Thorpe as a member of the New York Giants baseball team (public domain image).

As of 2022, Jim Thorpe’s body remains interred in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, a town he never visited while alive.

Exploring the Jim Thorpe Memorial in Carbon County Pennsylvania
The red granite mausoleum containing the remains of Jim Thorpe.

Visiting the Jim Thorpe Memorial

The Jim Thorpe Memorial is located along North Street (Rt. 903) in Jim Thorpe, PA.

A map to the Jim Thorpe Memorial in Jim Thorpe, PA.
A map to the Jim Thorpe Memorial in Jim Thorpe, PA.

If navigating by GPS, use coordinates 40.884828, -75.725668 for the parking area next to the grave site/memorial.

The Jim Thorpe Memorial in Carbon County Pennsylvania.
The Jim Thorpe Memorial in Carbon County.

The grave site, a red granite mausoleum, rests on mounds of soil from Thorpe’s native Oklahoma, the New York Polo Grounds (home of the New York Giants baseball team), and from Stockholm’s Olympic stadium, where Thorpe won his gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon in 1912.

The red granite mausoleum at the Jim Thorpe Memorial.
The red granite mausoleum at the Jim Thorpe Memorial.

The Thorpe Memorial also includes a sculpture, The Spirit of Thunder and Lightning, that was dedicated in 1998.

Sculpture and informational displays at the Jim Thorpe Memorial Park in Carbon County Pennsylvania.
The Spirit of Thunder and Lightning sculpture and informational displays at the Jim Thorpe Memorial Park in Carbon County.

The sculpture is a tribute to Jim Thorpe’s Native American name and roots.

The Spirit of Thunder and Lightning sculpture at the Jim Thorpe Memorial.
The Spirit of Thunder and Lightning sculpture at the Jim Thorpe Memorial.

The memorial also features several information boards, providing facts from his life and statistics from the numerous sports in which he excelled.

Informational display about Jim Thorpe's professional sports accomplishments.
Informational display about Jim Thorpe’s professional sports accomplishments.

Ironically, although the town’s name change and memorial did not cause Jim Thorpe, PA to become a major tourist destination, it has become that today, due to the town’s amazing architecture and proximity to many excellent natural and historic attractions.

The Carbon County Courthouse in Jim Thorpe, PA.
The Carbon County Courthouse in Jim Thorpe, PA.

So if you are visiting Jim Thorpe, PA to hike, bike, ride the train, or simply take in the sights, be sure to check out the memorial dedicated to the town’s namesake, one of the finest athletes the world has ever known.

Jim Thorpe bubble gum card.
Jim Thorpe bubble gum card.

Nearby Attractions

The Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway in Jim Thorpe is consistently ranked as one of the best sightseeing trains in the northeastern United States.

Fall foliage around the train station in Jim Thorpe, PA.
The Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway in Jim Thorpe, PA.

The Mount Pisgah Trail in Jim Thorpe is a steep but easy-to-follow trail leading up Mount Pisgah to a pair of fantastic Carbon County vistas.

Lehigh Gorge Overlook along the Mount Pisgah Trail.
Lehigh Gorge Overlook along the Mount Pisgah Trail.

Turn Hole Tunnel is an abandoned railroad tunnel located near the Glen Onoko access to Lehigh Gorge State Park, minutes from Jim Thorpe.

Looking through the Turn Hole Tunnel at Lehigh Gorge State Park towards the north portal.
Looking through the Turn Hole Tunnel at Lehigh Gorge State Park towards the north portal.

Buttermilk Falls at Lehigh Gorge State Park is a cascading waterfall along the Lehigh Gorge Rail Trail, 1/4 mile north of the Rockport Access to the park and rail trail.

Buttermilk Falls at Lehigh Gorge State Park.
Buttermilk Falls at Lehigh Gorge State Park.

Tank Hollow Overlook in Carbon County offers visitors a stunning view of a bend in the Lehigh River in the western Poconos.

Hikers at Tank Hollow Overlook in the western Poconos.
Hikers at Tank Hollow Overlook in the western Poconos.

Exploring Hickory Run State Park is an in-depth guide to the best things to see and do at this 15,990-acre park in Carbon County, just north of Jim Thorpe.

Stametz Dam along the Shades of Death Trail at Hickory Run State Park.
Stametz Dam along the Shades of Death Trail at Hickory Run State Park.

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Rusty Glessner
Rusty Glessner is a professional photographer, lifelong Pennsylvanian, and a frequently-cited authority on PA's best travel destinations.