A History of Whitehurst
In 1885, the Parkhurst Mansion of John Leisenring was disassembled from its foundations on Packer Hill overlooking the Old Mauch Chunk Historic District and moved, piece-by-piece across the Lehigh River to East Mauch Chunk, where it was reassembled into three row homes.
Whitehurst served as the home for the first three managers of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, Josiah White, Edwin Douglas, and John Leisenring.
The Manager's home was originally built in 1822 for LC&N cofounder Josiah White. The home, which he called Whitehall, was built as a half house in the Federal style, with white clapboard siding, flat window lintels, a low-pitched gable roof, and rectangular paneled doors.
Whitehall - Built for Josiah White in 1822
In 1840, the second manager, Edwin Douglas, doubled the size of the house by adding a parlor. Exterior to the home, he added a wrap around porch.
John Leisenring, the third manager and resident of the Manager's Home, worked as an engineer under Douglas. He became manager following the death of Douglas in 1860.
Parkhurst - Rebuilt by John Leisenring in 1860
Leisenring remade the Manager’s home into a Victorian mansion following the lead of his neighbor, Asa Packer. The gable roof was removed to add a third story, and Italianate decorations were applied to the eaves. Leisenring renamed the residence, Parkhurst.
When Leisenring died in 1884, the house was disassembled and moved to East Mauch Chunk in 1885. Leisenring’s son in-law, Dr. Wentz - a non-practicing physician, built a brick mansion on the site in 1886. It survived until the 1960s when it served as the Moose Hall. The Carbon County Courthouse Annex parking lot currently occupies the site.
Whitehurst is a contraction of Whitehall and Parkhurst.
|
