The Village of North Chevy Chase History
The Village was originally part of one of the earliest land grants in Maryland's Potomac area. Patented in 1698, the approximately 1,400-acre parcel extended to Rock Creek on the north and east, westward to Bethesda, and south toward Chevy Chase Circle. The grant from Charles, third Lord Baltimore, was called Clean Drinking Manor, named for the spring on the property that is still bubbling today. It can be seen on parkland just east of Jones Mill Road off Susanna Lane. According to legend, George Washington drank from its waters, for he wrote in his diary that he "tarried for a thankful rest at Clean Drinking's hospitable hearth.
The manor was inherited in the 1750's by the Jones family, whose house stood on the northwest corner of the intersection of Jones Mill and Jones Bridge roads. The last of the family, Old Nick Jones, a recluse, lived there until the early 1900's, and ruins of the manor house were there until a retirement facility was constructed in the 1950's. In 1893 the land was subdivided as "Kenilworth." The Village of North Chevy Chase was laid out with dirt roads and cinder walks, trees were planted, and illumination was provided by kerosene lamps. What was then the route followed by Connecticut Avenue, now Kensington Parkway, was traversed by a street car line manned by friendly motormen who often delivered ice cream, and other "necessities" from the terminus in Kensington, to residents along the line.
The community expanded, and in 1920 a Citizens' Committee of five members was formed to further the interests of the homeowners. By April 1924, the Village of North Chevy Chase was incorporated as a special taxing district by the act of the Maryland General Assembly. On January 11, 1996 the Village of North Chevy Chase was incorporated as a municipality. The town expanded its boundaries by annexing 9 homes, by resident request, in 2009. This brings the total number of homes in the Village to 211, making us the 2nd smallest municipality in the State of Maryland!