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AHistory
History · Chevy Chase

67% of Chevy Chase’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 90% of U.S. towns · #20 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Mihran Mesrobian House. Below: 12 old photos and papers and maps from 1900 on.

1on the National Register
67%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
17famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Chevy Chase’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

About Chevy Chase’s history

How historic is Chevy Chase?

A

More historic than 90% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Chevy Chase’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Chevy Chase is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #20 of 261 in Maryland. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Chevy Chase’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194066.7% of homes (±4.7) · typical MD town 3.3% · U.S. 8.4%A+National Register1 listing, 3.4 per 10,000 residents · typical MD town 0.9 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 90%
NewerOlder
Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 93%

Few Maryland towns list much on the Register (a typical Maryland town has 0.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Chevy Chase’s 3.4 sits near the middle of its state (58% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.7 points).

Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Chevy Chase’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

On the map since 19006 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1980. Watch Chevy Chase change.Old housesHalf of Chevy Chase’s homes were built before 1938.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers, 1893–1910.Famous sons and daughtersHilary Rhoda, Gayle King and 15 more were born here.
★ What stands out · On the map

Chevy Chase on the map, 1900 to 1980

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Chevy Chase. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Chevy Chase on the 1900 USGS mapChevy Chase on the 1945 USGS mapChevy Chase on the 1951 USGS mapChevy Chase on the 1965 USGS mapChevy Chase on the 1971 USGS mapChevy Chase on the 1980 USGS map1900Washington sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Chevy Chase.

The story

How Chevy Chase came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Chevy Chase.

Read it all →

In the 1880s, Senator Francis G. Newlands of Nevada and his partners began acquiring farmland in unincorporated areas of Maryland and just inside the District of Columbia, for the purpose of developing a residential streetcar suburb for Washington, D.C., during the expansion of the Washington streetcars system. Newlands and his partners founded The Chevy Chase Land Company in 1890, and its holdings of more than 1,700 acres (6.9 km2) eventually extended along the present-day Connecticut Avenue from Florida Avenue north to Jones Bridge Road.

Chapters19th century20th century21st century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Chevy Chase, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s–1900s6 items
1893 Rock Creek Railway northern terminus and car barn18931893 Rock Creek Railway northern terminus and car barnProperties of the Chevy Chase Land Company1897Properties of the Chevy Chase Land CompanyChevy Chase hunt1900Chevy Chase huntChevy Chase hunt1900Chevy Chase huntChevy Chase Club1905Chevy Chase ClubChevy Chase Club1909Chevy Chase Club
1910s6 items
Chevy Chase Club, [Chevy Chase, Maryland]1910Chevy Chase Club, [Chevy Chase, Maryland]Chevy Chase Club, [Chevy Chase, Maryland]1910Chevy Chase Club, [Chevy Chase, Maryland]Chevy Chase Club, [Chevy Chase, Maryland]1910Chevy Chase Club, [Chevy Chase, Maryland]Chevy Chase Club, [Chevy Chase, Maryland]1910Chevy Chase Club, [Chevy Chase, Maryland]Chevy Chase Club, [Chevy Chase, Maryland]1910Chevy Chase Club, [Chevy Chase, Maryland]Chevy Chase Club, [Chevy Chase, Maryland]1910Chevy Chase Club, [Chevy Chase, Maryland]
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Timeline

Chevy Chase, 1893 to 2002

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1893In the archive1893 Rock Creek Railway northern terminus and car barn
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900In the archiveChevy Chase hunt
  5. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1910In the archiveChevy Chase Club, [Chevy Chase, Maryland]
  7. 1941BuiltMihran Mesrobian House is built
  8. 1954Born hereGayle King is born here
  9. 1987Born hereHilary Rhoda is born here
  10. 1994Born hereCollin Martin is born here
  11. 21st century
  12. 2002Born herePhoebe Bacon is born here
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

1893 Rock Creek Railway northern terminus and car barn
Retake this view1893 Rock Creek Railway northern terminus and car barn, 1893

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Chevy Chase’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Chevy Chase

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2017
Mihran Mesrobian House
Mihran Mesrobian House, built 1941
Buildings
Mihran Mesrobian HouseBuilt 1941

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

17 famous people were born in Chevy Chase

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
H
Hilary RhodaAmerican model · b. 1987
G
Gayle KingAmerican television personality, author and bro… · b. 1954
Collin MartinAmerican professional soccer player · b. 1994
Phoebe BaconAmerican swimmer · b. 2002
Matthew BowmanAmerican baseball player · b. 1991
Josh HarrisAmerican investor and sports team owner · b. 1964
Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Chevy Chase Section 4
Gone or out of use
Chevy Chase Junior Collegeschool

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Chevy Chase’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1893 Rock Creek Railway northern termin…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Bethesda9 historic placesB−

Questions about Chevy Chase’s history

How does Chevy Chase rank for history?

Chevy Chase is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #20 of 261 in Maryland. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Chevy Chase?

One place: the Mihran Mesrobian House (listed 2017).

How old are the homes in Chevy Chase?

67% of Chevy Chase’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.7 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1938.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (8), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.