At the turn of the century the area bounded by
the
homes on West Kings Highway, North Drive, Crystal Lake Avenue and
Estaugh
Avenue was Clara Hinchman's farm. A meandering carriage lane led
from West Main Street in the Estaugh Avenue section to join with a lane
led from which is now West End Avenue. The lane then continued to
the Hinchman farmhouse which was the Lorain House on Crystal Lake
Avenue
years later. Near Estaugh Avenue were a number of bubbling
springs
which were the source of the creek. Mr. Hinchman put a dam across
the stream and erected a mill with a water wheel. Across the
water
he had a little bridge. This creek ran through Redman's Woods
which
was the playground of all the children in town. Well remembered
is
the Billy Penn tree. This tall tree stood in the woods back of
Mt.
Vernon Avenue, and if a kid climbed up on it on a clear day could see
Billy
up on the top of Philadelphia City Hall. A golf club purchased
land
from Mr. Hinchman out towards the North Drive area where the clubhouse
stoood near the site of Mr. Cop Somers' residence. The
Haddonfield
boys could get their spending money by caddying. On the way to
the
links they could raid the big strawberry patch which was on the
Avondale
Avenue section. It is difficult to envision a section of
Haddonfield
as farm land, but it was. If the stream is questioned, a trip to
the 300 block of Elm Avenue enables one to see it running through the
field
from the pipe under the street on its merry way to Crystal Lake.
Chestnut trees with good edible chestnuts were plentiful in the woods
until
one year a blight ruined them. Boys use to knock the burrs down
off
the trees with railroad spikes tied to short lengths of broomsticks,
and
thus getting the chestnuts would roast them on fires and have feasts.
