Call Number:

15

Repository:

Germantown Historical Society

Extent:

2.5 linear feet

Language:

English

Date:

1906-1950 (inclusive)

Creator:

Germantown and Chestnut Hill Improvement Association.

Abstract:

The Germantown and Chestnut Hill Improvement Association was formed in 1906, and focused on issues affecting the 22nd Ward of Philadelphia--encompassing the neighborhoods of Germantown, Chestnut Hill, and Mount Airy. Its concerns included roads and sewers, zoning, and fire and police protection; it helped to bring new schools, elevated train crossings, and reliable trash pick-up to the area. The Germantown and Chestnut Hill Improvement Association records, 1906-1950, include minutes, annual reports, a scrapbook, correspondence, and newspaper clippings.

The Germantown and Chestnut Hill Improvement Association was formed in 1906, integrating the older Chestnut Hill Improvement Association. With 872 members at its peak, the association was focused on issues affecting the 22nd Ward of Philadelphia--encompassing the neighborhoods of Germantown, Chestnut Hill, and Mount Airy. Primarily a volunteer member organization, the Germantown and Chestnut Hill Improvement Association also employeed one full-time, salaried administrator. Its concerns included roads and sewers, zoning, and fire and police protection; it helped to bring new schools, elevated train crossings, and reliable trash pick-up to the area.

Bibliography: Sies, Mary Corbin. "Paradise Retained: An Analysis of Persistence in Planned, Exclusive suburbs, 1880–1980." Planning Perspectives 12 (1997): 165–191. Accessed February 29, 2012. https://www.lib.washington.edu/subject/History/bi/hist498-omara/art.pdf. Page 181.

This collection consists of minutes, annual reports, a scrapbook, correspondence, and newspaper clippings. The minute books span 1906 to 1950, and are bolstered by additional Board minutes. The scrapbook contains mailings and publications of the association; published annual reports are also in the collection. Finally, there is a small amount of correspondence, spanning from 1907 to the 1920s, and newspaper clippings about the association.