Chevy Chase () is a neighborhood in northwest Washington, D.C. It borders

Chevy Chase, Maryland Chevy Chase () is the name of both a town and an unincorporated census-designated place (Chevy Chase (CDP), Maryland) that straddle the northwest border of Washington, D.C. and Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Several settlements in t ...

, a collection of similarly affluent neighborhoods.

Geography

The neighborhood is generally agreed to be bounded by

Rock Creek Park Rock Creek Park is a large urban park that bisects the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. The park was created by an Act of Congress in 1890 and today is administered by the National Park Service. In addition to the park proper, the Rock Cr ...

on the east, Western Avenue (which divides D.C. and Maryland) and Tennyson Street on the north, and, to the west, Reno Road and the

Friendship Heights Friendship Heights is an urban commercial and residential neighborhood in northwest Washington, D.C. and southern Montgomery County, Maryland. Though its borders are not clearly defined, Friendship Heights consists roughly of the neighborhoods ...

neighborhood. Opinions differ on the southern boundary, where Chevy Chase meets Forest Hills, but many residents consider it to be Broad Branch Road between 32nd and 27th streets. The main roads leading in and out of Chevy Chase, D.C. are

Connecticut Avenue Connecticut Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C., and suburban Montgomery County, Maryland. It is one of the diagonal avenues radiating from the White House, and the segment south of Florida Avenue was on ...

, Nebraska Avenue, Reno Road, Military Road and Western Avenue. The area is served by the M4, L1, L2, L8, E2, E4 and E6 Metrobus lines. Chevy Chase is within walking distance of three Red Line stations: Van Ness-UDC, Tenleytown-AU, and

. The public schools that serve Chevy Chase are Lafayette Elementary, Ben W. Murch Elementary, Alice Deal Middle School, and

Jackson-Reed High School , motto_translation = In days to come, it will please us to remember this , address = 3950 Chesapeake Street Northwest , region = Ward 3 , city = Washington, D.C. , zipcode ...

History

In the late 1880s, then-Representative Francis G. Newlands of

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

and his partners began to buy up farmland in northwest Washington, D.C., and southern

Montgomery County, Maryland Montgomery County is the most populous county in the state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 1,062,061, increasing by 9.3% from 2010. The county seat and largest municipality is Rockville, although the census-design ...

, to develop a residential

streetcar suburb A streetcar suburb is a residential community whose growth and development was strongly shaped by the use of streetcar lines as a primary means of transportation. Such suburbs developed in the United States in the years before the automobile, when ...

. (See

Washington streetcars Streetcars in Washington, D.C. transported people across the city and region from 1862 until 1962. The first streetcars in Washington, D.C., were drawn by horses and carried people short distances on flat terrain; but the introduction of cleane ...

.) They founded the Chevy Chase Land Company in 1890, and its eventual holdings are now known as this neighborhood and

. Chevy Chase D.C. was developed beginning in the early 1900s after construction was completed on the Chevy Chase Line, a streetcar line stretching to and beyond the northwestern boundary of the District of Columbia, thereby linking the area to downtown. Over succeeding decades, the formerly remote area was transformed from farmland and woods to middle-class housing. Chevy Chase D.C. includes many "

Sears Catalog Home Sears Modern Homes were catalog and kit houses sold primarily through mail order by Sears, Roebuck and Co., an American retailer. From 1908 to 1942, Sears sold more than 70,000 of these houses in North America, by the company's count. Sears ...

s", a popular housing option in the early twentieth century that allowed individuals of modest means to order by mail the materials and instructions for a home and build it themselves. The neighborhood's major commercial road is

NW. The street is home to commercial establishments, apartments, a community center, and a regional branch of the D.C. Public Library. Unlike many urban neighborhoods that have lost local businesses to large chains and suburban malls, the small, generally locally owned businesses along

remain and are well patronized by the local population. These businesses include Magruder's Supermarket, established in 1875; and the Avalon Theatre, which opened in 1923 as a silent film house and ran until the theater underwent renovations in 2003. The Avalon thereafter reopened as a non-profit movie theater. The area's parks include

, Lafayette Park, and Livingston Park.

Electoral boundaries redrawn

Until 2002, the entire neighborhood was located in Ward 3. After the 2000 census revealed an increase in population in Ward 3 and a decrease in population in Ward 4, the

Council of the District of Columbia The Council of the District of Columbia is the legislative branch of the local government of the District of Columbia, the capital of the United States. As permitted in the United States Constitution, the district is not part of any U.S. state ...

voted to reassign the portion of the neighborhood east of Broad Branch Road to Ward 4 as of January 1, 2002. Many residents were quite upset at the decision. The Chevy Chase Civic Association sued to prevent the redistricting on the grounds that it would reduce African American voting strength in Ward 3 and would result in unconstitutional and racially motivated

gerrymandering In representative democracies, gerrymandering (, originally ) is the political manipulation of electoral district boundaries with the intent to create undue advantage for a party, group, or socioeconomic class within the constituency. The m ...

. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia upheld the redistricting, as did the U.S. Court of Appeals. Following the redistricting, the neighborhood's

Advisory Neighborhood Commission Advisory Neighborhood Commissions are bodies of local government in District of Columbia, in the United States. The ANC system was created in 1974 through a District referendum (73 percent voted "yes") in the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. ...

was called 3/4G.

Education

District of Columbia Public Schools The District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) is the local public school system for the District of Columbia, in the United States. It is distinct from the District of Columbia Public Charter Schools (DCPCS), which governs public charter ...

operates public schools, including Lafayette Elementary, Alice Deal Junior High School, and Woodrow Wilson High School (actually located in

Tenleytown Tenleytown is a historic neighborhood in Northwest, Washington, D.C. History In 1790, locals began calling the neighborhood "Tennally's Town" after area tavern owner John Tennally. Over time, the spelling has evolved and by the 19th century th ...

). Private schools in Chevy Chase D.C. include St. John's College High School, a private, co-educational Catholic high school; and Blessed Sacrament School, a Catholic elementary school that enrolls some non-parishioners and non-Catholics. The

District of Columbia Public Library The District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL) is the public library system for the District of Columbia, in the United States. The system includes 26 individual libraries including Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library (the DCPL's central libr ...

operates the Chevy Chase Neighborhood Library.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1890 establishments in Washington, D.C. Neighborhoods in Northwest (Washington, D.C.)