Once Upon a Heights

In 1968, Windsor Heights was in the middle of a transformation. Open fields and vacant lots—once common sights—were quickly giving way to homes, paved streets, and growing businesses. What felt like rapid change then now reads as a defining chapter in the city’s history.

Just a decade earlier, residents debated whether paving 63rd and 73rd Streets was worth the cost. By the late 1960s, those arguments had faded as traffic increased and paving became essential. The city’s population had grown by more than 2,000 people, reaching an estimated 6,700 residents, with hundreds of new homes built since the late 1950s.

Hickman Road was evolving into a commercial corridor, anchored by the Sherwood Forest Shopping Center and new business offices. Community institutions followed, including new churches, schools, and the city’s most significant public works project of the decade: a new city hall and fire station, completed in 1966 after voters approved the bond issue on the third try.

That same period brought major infrastructure improvements. Windsor Heights established its own water department in 1962, allowing for modern water lines, citywide fire hydrants, and improved fire protection. Property values nearly doubled during the decade, reflecting the city’s rapid development.

Photos from 1958 and 1968 capture the moment perfectly—where open land once stretched, rooftops and streets now filled the frame. In 1968, Windsor Heights was nearly built out, shaped by growth, persistence, and a community learning how to become a city.

This photo was taken in 1958. The dotted line surrounds the original boundaries of Windsor Heights when it was incorporated in 1941. The solid line is the 1958 city limits. 

Looking Back from Today

More than half a century later, Windsor Heights is fully built out, its boundaries long defined and its neighborhoods well established. The debates of the 1960s—about paving streets, investing in infrastructure, and managing growth—feel familiar, echoing in today’s conversations about maintenance, redevelopment, and preserving community character.

While the open fields are gone, the decisions made during that decade continue to shape daily life in Windsor Heights. The streets, utilities, and civic buildings that once symbolized change are now simply part of the fabric of the city—quiet reminders of a time when Windsor Heights was still deciding what it would become.