Chestnut Hill
Chestnut Hill is a neighborhood in the Northwest Philadelphia section of the United States city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is bounded on the north by the county line (and city limit) at Northwestern Avenue; on the west by the Wissahickon Gorge; on the east by Stenton Avenue; and on the south by the Cresheim Valley. The zip code for Chestnut Hill is 19118.
The village of Chestnut Hill was part of the German Township laid out by Francis Daniel Pastorius and came to include the settlements originally known as Sommerhausen and Crefeld, as well as part of Cresheim. It served as a gateway between Philadelphia and the nearby farmlands. During the U.S. Revolutionary War era (late 18th century), the area was one of many summer vacation spots due to its higher elevation (400-500 feet above sea level) and cooler temperatures than the historic Center City. (Chestnut Hill is still known as one of the more affluent sections of Philadelphia.)
Chestnut Hill (along with many other towns and farmlands of Philadelphia County) became part of the City of Philadelphia in 1854 as part of the Act of Consolidation, when the County and the City became completely coterminous. In the same year, the Chestnut Hill Railroad opened, marking the beginning of the area’s development as a railroad suburb.
During the American Civil War, Chestnut Hill was home to Mower U.S. Army General Hospital, constructed to serve Union army soldiers.
The area is also an early “streetcar suburb” of Philadelphia, and contains a wide variety of 19th- and early-20th-century residential buildings by many of the most prominent Philadelphia architects.
(From Wikipedia)