Chestnut Heights is a post-war housing development of the late 1940's - early 1950's situated between Chili Avenue and West Side Drive. The main connector, Chestnut Drive, had the original houses and the rest of the neighborhood grew up quickly in the first half of the 1950's. The houses were small but in many cases packed full.
To those living there now it might be hard to imagine "the woods" , "the sandhill", the "back track", the "old/new Wilelen" and no outlet on the east end of Hallock but a walking path through the Head's property to get back and forth to the city bus stop on Chili Ave.
Growing up in that neighborhood meant a lot of yard play (kickball, whiffle ball, badminton, croquet, garage basketball, tag, mother-may-I, multi-yard football, etc), a lot of adventures in the woods (underground "forts", first cigarettes, getting lost, endless hikes, pollywogs in the creek), endless time at the diamond (a baseball field originally real sandlot but later upgraded to t-shirt league/little league quality), playing at the hill (leaping into the dunes, Cowboys and Indians, running away from the Fenton Rd toughies) - all with seemingly dozens of kids of all ages sprung free from the modest sized houses.
In the 60's and 70's further development eliminated the woods, the baseball field and the sandhill.
It had to happen, just as the original Heights eliminated the asparagus farm (a good crop for sandy soil). But let it be said that for the first generation of us this neighborhood offered freedom, safety and a diversity of activity that gave a lot of us a great start in life. I'm sure the kids growing up there now have their own unique ways of having fun and enjoying the beauty of the changing seasons Chili has to offer. At least I hope so.
