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Chevy Chase Maryland: A Streetcar to Home

The idea of working in one place and living in another isn’t unusual today, but in the late 1800s it was a radical notion. The electric streetcar made it possible for early suburbs like Chevy Chase to attract families away from the cities with the promise of a tranquil yet convenient life in the country. While streetcars may be history, “Chevy Chase, Maryland: A Streetcar to Home” shows how today’s Chevy Chase remains true to its original suburban ideas.

The Chevy Chase Historical Society, which has recorded and preserved the history of Chevy Chase since 1981, produced this film in collaboration with award-winning VideoArt Productions. The 32-minute film tells the history of the community through interviews with historians and local residents, spiced with oral histories from early Chevy Chase families. It features charming vintage photographs, beautiful contemporary footage and original music by composer Robert Xavier Rodriguez, inspired by Eubie Blake’s 1915 “Chevy Chase Fox Trot.”