Chevy Chase Lake

This article is about the trolley park. For the neighborhood, see Chevy Chase (CDP), Maryland.
Chevy Chase Lake
Map
LocationMontgomery County, Maryland, Unincorporated Chevy Chase
Coordinates38°59′37″N 77°04′32″W / 38.993650°N 77.075623°W / 38.993650; -77.075623
StatusDefunct
Public transitRock Creek Railway (1892-95)
Capital Transit (1895-1936)
Opened1892 (1892)
ClosedCa. 1936 (1936)
OwnerChevy Chase Land Company
AttendanceMay-September

Chevy Chase Lake was a trolley park in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, that operated from 1894 until about 1936.[1] It was created by the Chevy Chase Land Company, which sought to draw residents of Washington, D.C., to its nascent suburb of Chevy Chase.[1] Its eponymous lake was formed by the 1892 damming of Coquelin Run, a tributary of Rock Creek.[1] The lake gave its name to the neighborhood that grew up near it in unincorporated Chevy Chase.[1]

The lake itself provided water for the coal-fired steam turbines that powered the electric streetcars of the Rock Creek Railway, the trolley line built by the Chevy Chase Land Company to connect residents of its new suburb to Washington, D.C. The railway's terminal complex, some 1.7 miles due north of the Maryland-D.C. border, sat just north of the park. It included the power house with its tall chimney, a car barn, a turnaround loop, and a small station. It also served as the southern terminus of the Chevy Chase Lake & Kensington Railway, which connected the town of Kensington to D.C.

The park operated from spring to fall. In preparation for the 1912 season, the park received a carousel, renovations to its dance pavilion, and new walks and benches. Music was provided by the United States Marine Band.[2]

In 1916, a band led by 22-year-old Meyer Davis displaced the Marines as the park's main dance band.[3] Wrote the Washington Post:

The lure of the dance is proving potent these evenings at Chevy Chase Lake. The cars [streetcars] to the Maryland resort are crowded each night by Washington's young people who wish to keep time to the melodies provided by the Meyer Davis orchestra for dances on the big Chevy Chase pavilion. Various amusement devices, including the carousel for the youngsters, await non-dancing visitors to Chevy Chase Lake.

The following year, Meyer took over management of the entire park, which became the foundation of his sprawling dance-band business.[4] By the time he relinquished it in the early 1930s,[5] Davis would be the "biggest businessman among U.S. band leaders," as Time put it in 1941,[6] a wealthy society figure whose operations included some 80 bands with 1,000 musicians playing all along the East Coast.[7]

By 1922, a second dance pavilion had opened, featuring bands led by Davis and Joseph Shirley “Pete” Macias (1898-1947),[8] a native Washingtonian who became a popular local nightclub pianist and bandleader.[9]

The last known newspaper advertisements for the amusement park appeared in 1936, suggesting that the park closed after the summer season.[10]

  1. ^ a b c d "Chevy Chase Lake Amusement Park". Chevy Chase Historical Society. Archived from the original on 2023-09-27. Retrieved 2024-02-27.
  2. ^ "Chevy Chase Lake Opens". The Washington Herald. 1912-05-26. p. 14. Archived from the original on 2024-03-01. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  3. ^ "Chevy Chase Lake". The Washington Post. 1916-06-25. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2024-03-01. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  4. ^ "Music by Meyer Davis, 1916-1930 | Chevy Chase Historical Society". www.chevychasehistory.org. Archived from the original on 2023-10-22. Retrieved 2023-10-22.
  5. ^ "Music by Meyer Davis Page 5 | Chevy Chase Historical Society". www.chevychasehistory.org. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  6. ^ "Music: Businessman Band Leader". Time. January 20, 1941. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
  7. ^ Saxon, Wolfgang (April 6, 1976). "Meyer Davis, Orchestra Leader, Dies". The New York Times. p. 38. Archived from the original on February 27, 2024. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
  8. ^ "Chevy Chase Lake Will Have Old-Time Fourth". The Washington Times. 1913-07-03. p. 14. Archived from the original on 2024-03-01. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  9. ^ "Pete Macias and the Heigh-Ho Club". 2021-10-08. Archived from the original on 2024-03-01. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  10. ^ "Music at the Lake in the '30s Page 2 | Chevy Chase Historical Society". www.chevychasehistory.org. Retrieved 2024-03-07.