Chestnut Hill

Photo Courtesy Puffer Morris Real Estate

Northwest Quadrant

Chestnut Hill retains many of the characteristics of residential architecture found throughout Lancaster City. About half of the dwellings are two-story brick rowhouses with three-bay facades and gable roofs.

In 1824, the city extended no further west within Chestnut Hill than Charlotte Street and no further north than James Street. Lots are shown throughout the area on Scott's map of that year, but few houses are indicated west of Water Street. The remainder of the area was open land owned by the Hamilton family. See What's Here (and What's New)!

By the time Moody and Bridgens compiled their 1850 map of the city, little additional growth had occurred in this area, other than a dense collection of dwellings along Orange and King Streets. Some scattered houses are shown along Charlotte, Mulberry, James and Lemon Streets. In addition, Marietta Avenue is shown for the first time, with Walnut, Chestnut and Lemon Streets extended westward to it, and several scattered houses and a brick yard indicated surrounding them. The 1850 map shows little additional growth in the area. There was little more development in the area by 1858, as indicated by Kennedy's city map, or by the time of the1864 Atlas or Roe and Colby's 1874 map. The full pattern of the area streets was laid out, if not yet built, by 1887. The Board of Trade's map of that year indicates that all of the blocks from Mary Street east were densely infilled with residences. A school was constructed along Walnut Street and the Stevens Cotton Mill is shown on Pine Street, south of East Chestnut Street. With the exception of the area north of Frederick Street and west of North Mary Street, and the blocks bounded by West Lemon, Pine and Walnut Streets, Chestnut Hill almost completely filled in by1899.

Although about three quarters of this zone represents a product of the residential development typical of several parts of Lancaster City in the second half of the 1800s, the north side of West King Street possesses at least three buildings definitely predating 1798. In this same block, about half of the buildings predate 1850. The residential growth of the remainder of the area appears to have been promoted by the following factors: 1) the general westward movement of the City; 2) the industries that developed on the west side of town, including Hamilton Watch, small tobacco warehouses, the Star Brewery and the now-lost Remleysville area; 3) the construction of the West End Market circa 1883, at the southeast corner of West Orange and Pine Streets; and 4) in the 1890s, the further residential development of the extreme western blocks of the area were promoted by routes of the city's trolley lines.

It should be noted that the general circa 1870 to 1900 residential construction in the southern portion of Chestnut Hill, below West Walnut Street, appears to have been rather piecemeal, with many owners and developers involved with relatively small parcels of land. This is a marked contrast to the sweeping block-long projects of Jacob Griel located but one or two blocks to the north.

Although the general pattern of development of this area may be regarded as part of the late Victorian period residential expansion of the city, the intense development of the areas north of West Walnut Street occurred somewhat later. Most of the brick rowhouses on West Walnut Street from Charlotte Street westward to Pine Street were built about 1875 through 1885. From that intersection westward to College Avenue, most construction took place between the late 1890s and circa 1906. Even in 1880, there were but a handful of houses on West James Street from Charlotte Street westward to College Avenue. Considerable construction took place about 1886 to 1892, with minor residential construction extending into the 1920s. Most of the houses on Lancaster Avenue northward from West Walnut Street, and some houses on West Lemon Street westward from North Charlotte Street were built for resale and/or rental purposes by Jacob Griel in the 1880s. In the first quarter of this century, the then relatively new houses on College Avenue were a fashionable residential area, locally called "College Heights."

The Chestnut Hill area can be broken down architecturally and visually into several sub-areas. West King and West Chestnut Streets are the principal corridors through the area. The Charlotte Street Neighborhood, the Northwest Neighborhood, the Pine/Nevin Streets Neighborhood, the North Mulberry Street sub-area and College Heights. West King Street has been one of the city's principal east to west traffic arteries since the 1800s. The buildings along the north side of the street, as stated before, are a rich collection illustrating many of the various architectural styles that were popular throughout the city's history. Chestnut Street, another east to west corridor, contains a rich and varied pattern of predominantly late Victorian rowhouses, duplexes and detached dwellings. Included are a number of prominent buildings, including the McComony Mansion, West Lawn, the David Rose Mansion, the William Wohlsen Mansion and the Elmer E. Steigerwalt House.

The Charlotte Street Neighborhood, roughly bounded by North Mary, West Walnut, North Concord and West Chestnut Streets, retains a particularly notable collection of predominantly late nineteenth century residences. The primary focal point for the neighborhood, the 200 block of North Charlotte Street, contains numerous large single dwellings and substantial multiple dwellings. Among these, the William Zahm Sener Mansion, the Edwin K. Martin House and the Charles Steinman Foltz House are notable. Houses in the remainder of the neighborhood are somewhat less grand, but typically of excellent architectural character and detail.

The character of the Pine/Nevin Streets Neighborhood is defined by late nineteenth and early twentieth century dwellings, predominantly rowhouses. The style and detailing of the houses are somewhat simpler than those in the adjoining North Charlotte Street Neighborhood. Still, the area retains much of its historic character, even though a large number of the houses have been converted to apartments. Features like formstone, aluminum siding and inappropriate aluminum shutters mar the facades of about 20% of the buildings.

Of the houses in the Northwest Neighborhood area, nearly half are circa 1900 rowhouses of general two-story height with original front porches and small front yards. There are some mansard roof and three-story brick houses, most dating circa 1800 through 1900 and, of these, the strongest concentration is on the south side of West James Streets between Lancaster Avenue and College Avenue. In general, it appears that the most elaborate and expensive houses are situated on West Walnut, part of West Lemon and West James Street. Most houses on the connecting cross streets represent a lesser scale and expenditure. Formstone, aluminum siding and fake shutters have been applied to a number of the rowhouses in this zone, mostly on parts of North Mary and North Pine Streets.

The North Mulberry Street sub-area, roughly bounded by West Chestnut, North Concord, West Lemon and North Water Streets, developed as early as the 1850s, although some good-quality buildings in that block are much later. The establishment of new industries and businesses on North Water and North Arch Streets in the 1890s may have spurred increased building activity for residential purposes. Although it is a relatively small area, it is an architecturally and historically distinctive sub-area. The richest blocks visually are West Walnut, north side, and West Lemon, north side from Concord to Charlotte. These several blocks were generally developed between circa 1895 and 1905.

College Heights generally refers to the area included within a 1945 subdivision, bounded by College Avenue, Harrisburg Pike, Pine and Frederick Streets. The dwellings built here represent simple early-twentieth century stlyes.

The Lancaster Theological Seminary is the successor to the first Theological Seminary of the Reformed Church founded in York in 1825 and later relocated to Mercersburg. Its removal to Lancaster took place in 1871. The construction of the structure now known as the Lark Academic Building took place in 1893-1894 from the designs of John Smith of Harrisburg. The cornerstone for the Old Dormitories and the Refectory was laid on 2 October 1916 and the building was dedicated 17 October 1917. The architect was High McCelellan of the New York firm of Dillon, McClellan and Beadel. The Lark Academic Building and the Old Dormitories and Refectory are among the finest Romanesque Revival and Gothic Revival Style academic buildings, respectively, in Lancaster County.