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Chevy Chase () is a neighborhood in northwest
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
It borders
Chevy Chase, Maryland Chevy Chase () is the colloquial name of an area that includes a town, several incorporated villages, and an unincorporated census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland; and one adjoining neighborhood in northwest Washington, D ...
.


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, Washington, D.C., Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. Created by Act of Congress in 1890, the park comprises 1,754 acres (2.74 mi2, 7.10 km2), generally along 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 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 wa ...
, Nebraska Avenue, Reno Road, Military Road and Western Avenue. The area is served by the M4, L2, L8, E2, and E4 Metrobus lines. Chevy Chase is within walking distance of three Red Line stations: Van Ness-UDC, Tenleytown-AU, and Friendship Heights. The public schools that serve Chevy Chase are Lafayette Elementary, Ben W. Murch Elementary, Alice Deal Middle School, and Jackson-Reed High School.


History

In the late 1880s, then-Representative Francis G. Newlands of
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
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 (United States), county in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, the county's population was 1,062,061, increasing by 9.3% from 2010. The county seat is Rockville, Maryland ...
, 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.) They founded the Chevy Chase Land Company in 1890, and its eventual holdings are now known as this neighborhood and
Chevy Chase, Maryland Chevy Chase () is the colloquial name of an area that includes a town, several incorporated villages, and an unincorporated census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland; and one adjoining neighborhood in northwest Washington, D ...
. 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 kit houses, including Sears Catalog Homes and others, 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
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 wa ...
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
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 wa ...
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
Rock Creek Park Rock Creek Park is a large urban park that bisects the Northwest, Washington, D.C., Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. Created by Act of Congress in 1890, the park comprises 1,754 acres (2.74 mi2, 7.10 km2), generally along Rock Cr ...
, Lafayette-Pointer 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 (or simply D.C. Council) is the legislative branch of the government of the District of Columbia. As permitted in the United States Constitution, the district is not part of any U.S. state and is overseen ...
voted to reassign the portion of the neighborhood east of Broad Branch Road to Ward 4 as of January 1, 2002. Many residents were 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 Gerrymandering, ( , originally ) defined in the contexts of Representative democracy, representative electoral systems, is the political manipulation of Boundary delimitation, electoral district boundaries to advantage a Political party, pa ...
. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia upheld the redistricting, as did the U.S. Court of Appeals. After the redistricting, the neighborhood's
Advisory Neighborhood Commission Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANCs) are bodies of local government in the District of Columbia, the capital city of the United Statesdistrict. The ANC system was created in 1974 through a referendum (73 percent voted "yes") in the District of ...
was called 3/4G. In 2023, the Chevy Chase DC Conservancy (CCDCC) applied to designate the neighborhood a historic district by the District’s Historic Preservation Review Board.


Education

The neighborhood is served by the District of Columbia Public Schools, including Lafayette Elementary, Alice Deal Junior High School, and Jackson-Reed High School. 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 operates the Chevy Chase Neighborhood Library.


References


External links

*
2023 application
for designation as a historic neighborhood by D.C. {{Authority control 1890 establishments in Washington, D.C. Neighborhoods in Northwest (Washington, D.C.)