Chevy Chase DC Neighborhood

“Cheivy Chace”

In 1725, Colonel Joseph Belt received a patent for 560 acres of land in colonial Maryland, just northwest of the future Washington, DC. He dubbed it “Cheivy Chace.” The name was likely coined from the French “chevauchee,”used in medieval Scotland and England to describe horseback border raids. The English and Scots battled over such hunting grounds in 1388, as described in the ballads of Battle of Otterbourne and Chevy Chase.

Chevy Chase Land Company

In the late 1890’s, Francis G. Newlands of Nevada and William Stewart founded the Chevy Chase Land Company. Newlands was the Comstock Lode heir and future Nevada representative. Stewart was a U.S. Senator from Nevada. The partners purchased several thousand acres along the route that would become Connecticut Avenue, which they extended from Calvert Street to Chevy Chase Lake (an artificial lake and amusement park created to attract residents to their development). They also constructed The Chevy Chase Line, a streetcar line that ran past the NW boundary of the city, linking their project to downtown. The line was completed in the early 1900’s and became very popular. Newlands and Stewart planned Chevy Chase as community of distinctive homes sited on broad streets in a park-like setting. They excluded alleyways and set businesses districts at the neighborhood’s boundaries to differentiate the suburb from city neighborhoods. Municipal conveniences such as water, electricity, schools, churches and recreational facilities were provided or accessed by streetcar. Chevy Chase residents rode the streetcar to and from work and school. The streetcar conductor ran errands downtown and delivered groceries and packages to green boxes at several corners along Connecticut Avenue. City and suburb residents took the line to Chevy Chase Lake to picnic, fish, ride the carousel and attend musical events and dances.