Where’s the Lake? A History of Chevy Chase Lake Amusement Park

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Why is Bozutto’s new development called Chevy Chase Lake? In 1892 Coquelin Run, a tributary of Rock Creek, was dammed to create a man-made lake and provide electricity for the new trolley line on Connecticut Avenue. At the terminus at Jones Bridge Road and Connecticut Avenue was Chevy Chase Lake Amusement Park. Operating from 1894 to 1936, the park was intended to draw prospective home buyers to the Chevy Chase Land Company's new suburban development. With picnic areas, boating, a bandstand, dancing pavilions, a merry-go-round, and ice skating, the park was a major entertainment venue.

Join Chevy Chase Historical Society’s Beth Huffer for the fascinating and forgotten story of the park.

Beth Huffer is the director of the Archive and Research Center at the Chevy Chase Historical Society. Before joining CCHS in 2018, she was curator of books and manuscripts at the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in New York City. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a double major in history and art history and received a master’s degree in museum studies from New York University. She lives in Washington, DC’s Woodley Park area.