Night of Lights 2021

Friday, October 8 to Sunday, October 17, 7pm-9pm

Special Opening Night: October 8 

The 5th annual Night of Lights, the Chestnut Hill Conservancy’s innovative public art installation, once again transformed Germantown Avenue into an interactive display of local history and architecture.

For ten nights, historical images from the Conservancy’s Archives were projected through storefront windows along Germantown Avenue, with neighboring historic buildings illuminated with colored lights and films.

The event kicked off October 8th with storytellers, musicians, prizes, and more (scroll down for pictures!). The exhibition—complete with accompanying mobile experience—remained on view through October 17 for self-guided explorations of community history and return visits.

We enjoyed additional activities and celebrations throughout the 10-day run, with many stores having stayed open late and many restaurants featured local historic food items on their menus. 

Check out Images from This Year’s Night of Lights!

Photos by Betsy Manning, Bradley Maule

Using the commercial corridor as a canvas for sharing and interpreting multiple layers of neighborhood history, Night of Lights is a true participatory, community-based event, that offered visitors and long-time residents a free and accessible opportunity to discover the history of the neighborhood, while becoming active participants in the stories being told.

This year’s Night of Lights was truly the best of both worlds, with an extended run over ten nights plus all of the live and interactive activities that made our one-night event so special!

Our Opening Night featured an exciting lineup of live activities, starting with the public Opening Reception at George Woodward Co. at 5:30 pm, followed by the “Flip the Switch” Ceremony featuring Senator Art Haywood, Representative Chris Rabb, and Councilmember Cindy Bass, along with our sponsors, to kick off Night of Lights at 6:45 pm. The lively evening in Chestnut Hill featured some of our best Night of Lights traditions, including interpreters at projection windows, a photo booth, and our Ask the Archivists table. We were proud to feature Community Storytellers Willard Detweiler and Steve Kurtz, as well as musicians performing on every block of Germantown Avenue between Willow Grove and Highland!

Everyone who came out for the the opening night, as well as the additional evenings for the installation and partner events, enjoyed this year’s 8 slideshows and many light installations, stopped into a few of the many participating businesses or restaurants that kept special late hours, and otherwise enjoyed a few beautiful fall evenings in Chestnut Hill.

Visitors to Night of Lights were able to enjoy additional virtual features in our mobile experience – learning more about each building’s history, listening to recorded storytellers, posting selfies, exploring activities, and more!

The Night of Lights Pastport has been your guide to the exhibition and features the event map, building histories, schedule of experiences, and participating businesses. Remember to bring your completed Pastport, stamped at every thematic slideshow projection, to the Conservancy office (8708 Germantown) to win a prize!

We’re pleased to have presented eight projections featuring fantastic archival images and stories of Chestnut Hill and our surrounding communities, presented by the Conservancy and our community partners:

• Urgency, Agency, and Optimism: How Your Old House Can Be Part of the Climate Solution – presented with support by Bryn Mawr Trust Wealth Management
• Philo T. Farnsworth and Television’s Local Beginnings – presented with support by Pure Insurance
• Highlights of Historic Buildings in Springfield Township (with the Springfield Township Historical Society) – presented with support by Sivel Group
• Postcards from the Wissahickon – presented with support by Millan Architects
• A Civil War Hospital and What Came After – presented with support by Kurtz Construction Co.
• Repurposing Older Buildings – presented with support by Elfant Wissahickon Realtors
• Neighborliness By Design: 100 Years of the George Woodward Co. – presented with support by Delran Builders
• On the Street Where You Live: The Pedestrian Experience in Chestnut Hill – presented with support by Kurfiss Sotheby’s / Team Whetzel

This year’s Night of Lights, as part of all of the Conservancy’s work to advocate for and celebrate our communities, is only possible because of our members and supporters. If you’ve enjoyed being a part of this year’s wonderful exhibition, and aren’t already, please consider joining the Conservancy as a member. Your support makes future programming like Night of Lights possible and helps the Conservancy continue as stewards and partners for history, architecture, and open space. Join the Conservancy today!

Night of Lights in the News!

Thank You to This Year’s Wonderful Volunteers, Contributors, Participants and Supporters!

2021 Night of Lights Committee

Dave Hoylman
Dan Macey
Kathie Meadows
Molly Murphy
Kate O’Neill

Volunteers, Contributors, Participants and Supporters

Thank you to all the participating businesses and restaurants that have contributed Pastport prizes and/or donated a portion of their sales during Night of Lights to support the Conservancy!

The Spice Rack
El Quetzal
Weavers Way Next Door
Windfall Popup
Ten Thousand Villages
Hideaway Music
Chestnut Hill Brewing Company
Made By ME: Handmade Gourmet Chocolates and Amenities
Chestnut Grill & Sidewalk Cafe
Bredenbeck’s Bakery and Ice Cream Parlor
Tasco Art Salon
Summer Classics
Rebel
Baker Street Bread Co.
Windfall Gallery

Special Historic Foods from Participating Restaurants

As part of Night of Lights, a number of local restaurants served dishes that reflect the historic foods of the Philadelphia region. The Conservancy is excited to have partnered with the Historic Foodways Society of the Delaware Valley in sharing these historic recipes and dishes.

Below is a list of participating restaurants and their featured historic food specials, some with a modern twist. To learn more about local food history, be sure to check out the Philadelphia Pocket Guide to Food History courtesy of the Historic Foodways Society.

• Chestnut Grill: Catfish
  Catfish were once very plentiful in the rivers and tributaries in and around Philadelphia with some early colonial journals indicating that the fish were so abundant that they jumped right into row boats. The classic dish was prepared as catfish and waffles, and was especially popular during the mid 1800s to early 1900s and served at a variety of inns that were all along the Wissahickon River and a weekend destination for families and couples. The dish was not what we might think of today as fried catfish. Instead, the dish is served with the fish minced and served in a creamy sauce served over very thin waffles that resemble Italian pizzelle cookies.

• Chestnut Hill Brewing Company:  Vegan Pepperpot Soup
  Pepperpot soup, once a staple on Philadelphia restaurant menus, came to the city by way of the West Indies in the mid 18th century. Traditionally, a mixture of meat, tripe, vegetables and dough balls in a spicy broth, during Night of Lights you’ll be able to enjoy a special vegan version. The concoction was primarily sold in market stalls and on street corners, offering a hearty meal for a few pennies a bowl. A recipe for the soup appeared in the first cookbook published specifically for an American audience, The New Art of Cookery according to Present Practice, in 1792. Legend had it, incorrectly, that the soup was invented to feed the troops at Valley Forge after the Battle of Germantown. Campbell’s Soup began selling a canned version of the soup in the early 1900s and advertised it as the same version, “served at the favorite club of Philadelphia’s early Colonial aristocracy,” despite its street-food roots.

• Bredenbeck’s: Philly Butter Cake
  The Philly Butter Cake should not be confused with the St. Louis’ Gooey Butter Cake which is made with cream cheese. Philly’s version of this dessert, actually more of a pie than a cake, has a sticky and chewy filling. It’s a safe assumption that the recipe is a twist on something German settlers to the area brought with them, called Butterkuchen. Philly’s butter cake has three essential components. First, the cake, which serves as a base for the dish. It is yeast-based so made from a dough that has risen, not a batter, and has the flaky consistency of a Danish. The filling is a buttery, very sweet, almost pudding consistency made with butter and sugar, eggs and milk. And the top layer is a paper-thin, golden layer of frosting that has crisped in the oven.

• Baker Street Bread Co.: Pretzel Raclette Sandwich and root beer bottles for the first 100 customers on October 8 only
  The pretzel’s history does not begin in Philadelphia, but with German immigrants who helped pioneer large-scale pretzel production and empowered a generation of street vendors. The pretzel’s popularity in Philadelphia is credited to Daniel Kleiss who began selling pretzels on the streets in the 1820s, but it wasn’t until the 1920s that the Philadelphia pretzel was born. The city left behind the three-holed pretzel shape that had represented Christian trinity and took on the now iconic figure-eight shape which Philadelphians eat as a fast breakfast food, a snack, or even for a quick lunch or dinner. Although, most real Philadelphians know not to eat a pretzel after 6:00 p.m., since its soft, chewy inside — generally baked that morning — would have probably started to go stale by then.

Root beer began as a form of medicine but became popular after Philadelphia pharmacist Charles Elmer Hires presented his version at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition held in Philadelphia. He developed a powder in which root beer could be easily made at home when mixed with water. His original name for the product was Root Tea, due to the popularity of the temperance movement but his business partner insisted that “hard-working” men would never touch a drink labeled a tea. In fact, prohibition advocates declared that there was actually alcohol in the Root Beer and tried to have it banned. He later developed a syrup which became a standard ingredient for producing all types of carbonated sodas. Hires once had a vast plant on the Delaware River at Delaware and Fairmont Avenues.

A look at our 2021 Night of Lights slideshows

Postcards from the Wissahickon, developed by David Bower, Friends of the Wissahickon volunteer, is presented by Night of Lights and Conservancy Sponsor Millan Architects.

Repurposing Older Buildings, developed by Miles Orvell, Temple University, is presented by Night of Lights and Conservancy Sponsor, Elfant Wissahickon Realtors.

Love these historic images? Visit our online Archives, or make an appointment with our Archivist, Alex Bartlett!
Want to tell your story of Chestnut Hill? Contact us if you have a story you’d like to share!

Volunteers, Contributors, Participants and Supporters

Look back at Night of Lights 2020

Look back at Night of Lights 2019

Look back at Night of Lights 2018

Look back at Night of Lights 2017

2021 CHESTNUT HILL CONSERVANCY NIGHT OF LIGHTS MEDIA SPONSOR

2021 CHESTNUT HILL CONSERVANCY NIGHT OF LIGHTS SPONSORS