April 15, 2026
Many of Washington DC’s suburbs are, in fact, located in surrounding Maryland and Virginia. In fact, the Washington DC metropolitan area is often referred to as The DMV (District, Maryland, Virginia). Sometimes, suburbs straddle the border between the District and the neighboring state. One of these is Chevy Chase, one of the area’s most affluent suburbs. The suburb takes its name from an old English ballad (Apparently the famous American comedian whose real name is Cornelius Crane Chase got his nickname Chevy from his grandmother who knew the ballad).
Chevy Chase was developed in the late 1800s as one of America’s earliest streetcar suburbs. Infamously, but not unusually for the time, parts of Chevy Chase were deliberately developed to exclude Blacks, Jews and other non-white, non-Christian groups. It was not until 1948 that the Supreme Court in Shelley v. Kraemer ruled that these covenants could not be enforced. While the suburb is more diverse now, it is still less diverse than many of its neighbors.
The historic part of the suburb, where we decided to go for an after dinner stroll, is just across the line from the District. It is quiet and residential with tree-lined streets and large stately homes.
Mal and Lauren 