The street lies entirely within the District of Columbia and is itself not the boundary of the city, which "runs right through the front lawns of the houses on the Maryland side of Western Avenue.

[4] "Boundary Street" was the original name for Florida Avenue, but the name was changed in 1890 as the city rapidly began expanding outward into the rural areas of what was then known as "Washington County".

[5] In January 1893, the Anthropological Society of Washington issued a report calling for a "grand avenue or boulevard to form the boundary of the District of Columbia on the three land sides".

[6] But 10 years later, in 1903, a real estate atlas of the area showed a "Columbia Boulevard" beginning just northeast of 48th Street NW and continuing northeastward along the D.C. border to approximately the nine-mile boundary stone (just short of Rock Creek itself).

[8] Press reports made it clear, however, that Western Avenue did not exist along the entirety of its current full length and was not completely finished.

[9] The United States Army Corps of Engineers, which had authority over public works in the city at the time, approved the request in August.

In October 1906, the Corps created a graded section of unpaved road along the two blocks from Chevy Chase Circle to Rittenhouse Street NW.

In May 1924, the Corps of Engineers announced that property owners along 75 percent of the Western Avenue route had willingly sold land for the street.

[19] Portions of the avenue had still not been purchased from private landowners by September 1925, however, and the city government asked Congress for legislation that would provide a faster way to condemn land for the street.

[28] As of 2011, Friendship Heights — which is largely bisected by Western Avenue — has become one of the most fashionable places in Maryland and the District of Columbia to live and shop.