Chevy Chase was unincorporated farmland in the years before 1890, during which time Senator Francis G. Newlands of Nevada and his partners began the aggressive acquisition of land in northwestern Washington, DC and southern Montgomery County, MD, for the purpose of developing a residential streetcar suburb for Washington, DC. The Chevy Chase Land Company was founded in 1890, and its eventual holdings of more than 1,700 acres would extend along the present-day Connecticut Avenue from Florida Avenue north to Jones Bridge Road.
Chevy Chase is the name of both a town and an unincorporated Census-Designated Place (CDP) in Montgomery County, MD. In addition, a number of villages in the same area of Montgomery County include “Chevy Chase” in their names.
These villages, the town and the CDP share a common history and together form a larger community colloquially referred to as “Chevy Chase”. Primarily a residential suburb, Chevy Chase also is near a popular shopping district, Friendship Heights featuring several malls and a variety of shops and restaurants.
