Carbon

Formed March 13, 1843 (57^th county)

Carbon County (64,750), Jim Thorpe (4,505), Leighton (5,251)

The stone Romanesque courthouse was erected in 1893.  It is located on Broadway at Hazard Square.  United States Highway 209 is one block east of the courthouse.  Lewis S. Jacoby is the building designer.  The building was enlarged in 1936 and renovated in 1980.  There was an 1850 courthouse previously.  Mauck Chunk was the original county seat until 1953 when it merged with East Mauck Chunk to become Jim Thorpe.  The county was formed for Northampton and Monroe counties on March 13, 1843 as the 57^th county.  Carbon County is named for the local coal deposits.  The county seat is named for Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe. 

Carbon County government consists of a treasurer, a sheriff, an attorney, a coroner, and a clerk (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  Three Common Pleas Court Judges and Four Magistrate Court Judges serve Carbon County (judicial.)  The county is in the eastern part of the state.  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is southeast and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is southwest of the county.  The county center is 3.8 miles Northeast of Jim Thorpe.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Monroe, Northampton, Lehigh, and Luzerne counties. 

The area of the county is 387 square miles.  It is 58 out of 67 in the state.  It ranks 39 out of 67 in population in the state.  It has a density of 167.3 persons per square mile making it 30 out of 67 in the state.  Carbon County has 48.4% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 80 cuts the northern tip from east to west from Monroe County to Luzerne County.  Interstate Highway 476 passes north to south in the county from Luzerne County to Lehigh County.  United States Highway 209 crosses east to west from Monroe County to Schuykill County.  The county looks like a block buffalo.  Jim Thorpe is in the southwest quarter of the county.  Leighton is near the southeast border of the county.  Jim Thorpe is the county seat and Leighton is the largest city.  Jim Thorpe is 7.0% of the county population while Leighton is 8.1% of the county population.  The largest city is pronounced LAE-TON.  This county is in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton Metropolitan Statistical Area.