Discovering Chestnut Hill Spring 2020:
Our Open Spaces - A 20/20 Focus on Common Ground
Pastorius Park and Its Neighborhood: An Unlikely and Serendipitous Gift of the Automobile Age
Walking tour with Rob Fleming
Meeting Place To Be Announced
Early in the 20th Century, the City of Philadelphia made region-wide plans that included a large intersection of three parkways in the heart of Chestnut Hill. Condemnation and clearing opened the ground for the grand intersection— a traffic circle. But World War I interrupted the work. At that point, the community was not yet settled in its final form; if the project had continued Chestnut Hill would have lost its village character.
Pastorius Park, a jewel of American landscape design, is one of many uncoordinated but fortuitous developments that as a whole give Chestnut Hill the character of a well-planned community. Join Landscape Architect Rob Fleming as we explore Pastorius Park and the remaining traces of what might have been.