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The 9 hole golf course Glendale was built in the late 1920's and was removed in 1940 to build war housing |
Delaware County War housing
With World War 2 already underway in Europe the government knew it was only a matter of time before the United States entered the war. By mid 1940 places like Westinghouse, Baldwin's, General Steel etc. were already working 6 to 7 days a week filling orders for Europe. The problem was were to put all the workers. As hard as it is to imagine today much of lower Delaware County was still open space with some farms still operating. The government needed as much housing as they could get and quickly, they created 3 "cinder block" cities. There was Glen dale Heights at South Ave, and MacDade Blvd. in Glenolden, a former golf course that still looks the same today. Overlook Heights in Woodlyn at Bullens Lane and MacDade Blvd. in Woodlyn now low income housing. The original homes were torn down in the 1980's. The third place was Tinicum Manor at Wanamaker Ave. and the Industrial Highway in Essington. The houses are now gone and the site is now a park and playing fields for Tinicum Twp. I have heard that there was a trailer park in Woodlyn opposite Overlook Heights in the area of todays Derwood Park.
Below is a picture of Glendale Heights from the mid 1940's. The name comes from Glenolden and Collingdale
I was never never into history. Then I moved into Glendale Heights where my parents lived, hard time's. I'm originally from Philadelphia. When I told my girlfriend where i moved she said they used to call those homes the projects/flatops. Now I know why, I told her the temporary housing built for the war sure looks like it because they never kept up with the building codes when Glenolden Borough decided not to tear them down. So I got curious and did so much research I was up until 2am lol and came across your site very interesting. The next day i spent hours looking at all the pictures and reading some of the article's. I just joined a group on Facebook to learn some more history about Delaware County. It's funny I never was a history buff until now, especially at my age. This place needs a lot of upgrading !!
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