Chestnut Hill is an affluent New England village located west of downtown

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

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. Like all Massachusetts villages, Chestnut Hill is located within one or more incorporated

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

entities. It is located partially in Brookline in Norfolk County; partially in the Brighton neighborhood of the city of Boston in Suffolk County; partially in the West Roxbury neighborhood of the city of Boston in Suffolk County, and partially in the city of Newton in Middlesex County. Chestnut Hill's borders are defined by the 02467 ZIP Code. The name refers to several small hills that overlook the 135-acre (546,000 m²)

Chestnut Hill Reservoir Chestnut Hill Reservoir is a reservoir created in 1870 on existing marshes and meadowland to supplement the city of Boston's water needs, located in its namesake neighborhood of Chestnut Hill. A 1.56 mile jogging loop abuts the reservoir. Chestnu ...

rather than one particular hill. Chestnut Hill is best known as the home of Boston College and as part of the Boston Marathon route.

History

The boundary between Newton and Brighton was originally more or less straight northwest–southeast, following today's boundary at the east edge of the Newton Commonwealth Golf Course and the west boundary of the MBTA rail yards, following what is today St. Thomas More Road and Chestnut Hill Driveway through swamp land that is today the west edge of the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, and then rejoining today's city limit that runs essentially with the portion of Beacon St. that forms the west boundary of the Reservoir, and continues southeast to today's triple point between Boston, Brookline, and Newton near the intersection of Reservoir Road and Middlesex Road, Brooklin

Around the 1870s, the Lawrence farm land that is today bounded by Commonwealth Avenue, the slope dividing Boston College upper campus from lower campus, Beacon St., Chestnut Hill Driveway, and St. Thomas More Rd. was ceded from Newton to Boston, so that Boston could construct the Chestnut Hill Reservoir. What is today the Boston College lower campus and stadium was excavated to become the Lawrence Basin of the Reservoir, paired with the surviving Bradlee Basi

to receive water from the

Sudbury Aqueduct The Sudbury Aqueduct is an aqueduct in Massachusetts. It runs for from Farm Pond at Waverly Street in Framingham to Chestnut Hill Reservoir in Boston’s Chestnut Hill neighborhood. A later built extension main runs from the Farm Pond gateh ...

. Beacon St. was rerouted around the south and west edges of the Bradlee Basin. The two halves of the Reservoir were separated to preserve the Cochituate Aqueduct, which ran under a causeway separating the two halves of the reservoir, now roughly St. Thomas More Rd. and Chestnut Hill Driveway, and a short stretch of Beacon St. While most of Chestnut Hill remained farmland well into the early 20th century, the area around the reservoir was developed, in 1870, by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, designer of

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...

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and of the Emerald Necklace in Boston and Brookline. Because of the significance of its landscape and architecture, the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

, in 1986, designated parts of Chestnut Hill as historic districts. Examples of

Colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...

, Shingle,

Tudor Revival Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...

, and Victorian architectural styles are evident in the village's country estates and mansions. The Boston College campus is itself an early example of Collegiate Gothic architecture.

Parkland

Hammond Pond Reservation, an extensive forest preserve and protected wetlands, goes through Chestnut Hill and Newton. The Kennard Park and Conservation Area is a post-agricultural forest grown up on 19th century farmland. The mixed and conifer woodlands reveal colonial stone walls, a red maple swamp with century-old trees, and a sensitive fern marsh. The Heartbreak Hill Park, surrounding the Waban Hill reservoir, opened in 2015, and a major renovation was completed in 2020.City of Newton
Heartbreak Hill Park
Friends of Heartbreak Hill Park
History
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Shopping centers

* The Shops at Chestnut Hill * The Street at Chestnut Hill

Transportation

Chestnut Hill is served by three branches of the Green Line of the MBTA, Boston's light rail system. Stations include: * B branch: Chestnut Hill Avenue, South Street, Boston College * C branch: Cleveland Circle * D branch: Reservoir, Chestnut Hill The area is also served by various MBTA buses, e.g. Routes 51, 60 and 86.

Registered historic districts

Boston College Main Campus Historic District Boston College Main Campus Historic District encompasses the historic heart of the campus of Boston College in the Chestnut Hill area of Newton, Massachusetts. It consists of a collection of six Gothic Revival stone buildings, centered on Gass ...

– 140 Commonwealth Ave. (in Newton) * Chestnut Hill Historic District – roughly bounded by Middlesex Rd., Reservoir Ln., Denny Rd., Boylston St. and Dunster Rd. (added November 17, 1985) (mostly in Brookline, but includes a few properties that spill into Newton) * Chestnut Hill Reservoir Historic District – within Boston city limits * Old Chestnut Hill Historic District – along Hammond St. and Chestnut Hill Rd. roughly bounded by Beacon St. and Essex Rd., and Suffolk Rd. (added October 4, 1986), within Newton city limits

Education

The village is served by the Brookline Public Schools, Newton Public Schools, and Boston Public Schools, depending on the city or town in which a particular residence is located. The several private schools include Mount Alvernia Academy (Roman Catholic, K–6), Brimmer and May School (non-denominational, K–12), and The Chestnut Hill School. Chestnut Hill is home to both Boston College and Pine Manor College.

References

{{Authority control Villages in Norfolk County, Massachusetts Brookline, Massachusetts Villages in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Villages in Newton, Massachusetts Villages in Suffolk County, Massachusetts Neighborhoods in Boston Villages in Massachusetts