Chevy Chase, Maryland

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Chevy Chase is the name of both a town and an unincorporated Census-Designated Place in Montgomery County, Maryland (see Chevy Chase (CDP), Maryland). There are also a number of villages in Montgomery County with "Chevy Chase" in their name, all of which are part of the community of Chevy Chase. This community actually spills over the Maryland-District of Columbia boundary to include a neighborhood of Washington called Chevy Chase, DC.

Chevy Chase is a popular upscale shopping district, deemed the "Rodeo Drive of the East," that features some of the most exclusive shops in the Washington, D.C., area. Mazza Gallerie, across the border in Chevy Chase's D.C. side, is an upscale shopping center, anchored by Neiman Marcus. In Maryland, directly across Wisconsin and Western Avenues from the Mazza Gallerie are Saks Fifth Avenue, Brooks Brothers, Barneys Co-Op, BVLGARI, Jimmy Choo, Max Mara, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Christian Dior, Ralph Lauren, Tiffany & Co., Yves Saint Laurent, Saks Jandel, Gucci, Cartier, Lacoste, and Van Cleef & Arpels. Clyde's, Max Mara Cafe', Famosa, Maggiano's, the Cheesecake Factory, and other restaurants are nearby. Many more exclusive shops and restaurants are planned to open in the area in the coming years as the Hecht Company changes hands into Bloomingdales. The shops are accessible via Washington Metro's Friendship Heights station.

Chevy Chase is also home to the National 4-H Center, where the National Science Bowl is held in late April or early May.

Some people speculate that actor Chevy Chase was nicknamed by his grandmother after the town, as his real first name is actually Cornelius.

[edit] History

The area was unincorporated farmland when Senator Francis G. Newlands of Nevada and his partners began the aggressive acquisition of land in northwestern DC and southern Montgomery County. In the present day, the holdings would eventually extend along Connecticut Avenue from Florida Avenue north to Jones Bridge Road. In 1890, Newlands established the Chevy Chase Land Company to develop the land as a residential streetcar suburb. (See Washington streetcars)

The name "Chevy Chase" was taken from one of the absorbed plots of land. Its name in turn, according to the Village of Chevy Chase's official history, can be traced to the larger tract of land called "Cheivy Chace" that was patented to Colonel Joseph Belt from Lord Baltimore on July 10, 1725. It has historic associations to a 1388 battle between Lord Percy of England and Earl Douglas of Scotland. At issue in this "chevauchee" (a Scottish word describing a border raid) were hunting grounds or a "chace" in the Cheviot Hills of Northumberland and Otterburn.[1]

[edit] Villages

• Chevy Chase (CDP), Maryland
• Chevy Chase (town), Maryland
• Chevy Chase Village, Maryland
• Village of Chevy Chase Section Three, Maryland
• Village of Chevy Chase Section Five, Maryland
• Village of Martin's Additions, Maryland
• Village of North Chevy Chase, Maryland

In addition to the above, the United States Postal Service uses "Chevy Chase" for postal addresses which lie in the Town of Somerset and the Village of Friendship Heights which lie outside historical Chevy Chase.

[edit] References

• Robinson, Judith Helm. Chevy Chase: A Bold Idea, A Comprehensive Plan in Smith, Kathryn Schneider, ed. Washington at Home: An Illustrated History of Neighborhoods in the Nation's Capital, The Historical Society of Washington, D.C, 1993.
• History of the Chevy Chase Land Company