Before Europeans reached the area, the upper Anacostia River was home to Nacotchtank/Anaquashtank people, a Piscataway-speaking Algonquian peoples who lived throughout what is now the Washington, D.C., area.[5] European encroachment and diseases decimated their population and by the 1680s the Nacotchtank/Anaquashtank had largely moved away and merged with other tribes.
In the 1720s, John Beall acquired land in the area and established Beall Town, but the town did not prosper like its neighbor Bladensburg. The opening of the Washington–Baltimore Turnpike (modern day US 1) in 1812 and the B&O Railroad Washington Branch line in 1835 brought more settlers to the area.[6][7]
The city's founder, Christopher Clark Hyatt (1799–1884), purchased his first parcel of land in the area in 1845.[7] Hyatt opened a store and began mail delivery, officially naming the nascent community "Hyattsville" in his 1859 application to become postmaster. In the years following the Civil War, Hyatt and other local landowners subdivided their properties and sold lots, and the population of Hyattsville grew. Hyattsville was incorporated as a city on April 7, 1886.[8]
Revitalization projects
Since 2000, the city has undergone a major redevelopment, including significant residential and retail development in the Arts District Hyattsville (located in the Gateway Arts District), and the area surrounding the Hyattsville Crossing station and The Mall at Prince Georges.[9] In the latter area, University Town Center contains residential condos, student housing, office buildings, a public plaza, and retail space, including a 14-screen movie theater and several restaurants, as well as a campus of Prince George's Community College.
As of 2020[update], additional residential and retail development is underway near the West Hyattsville Metro station.[10] Along Route 1, craft brewers and distillers have played a notable role in revitalizing old commercial properties.[11][12]
Regina High School was an all-girls Catholic high school in Hyattaville that closed in 1989.[13]
Geography
The City of Hyattsville consists of six subdivisions; Hyattsville Hills, Downtown Hyattsville, Kirkwood, Queens Chapel Manor, Castle Manor, and University Hills. Historic Hyattsville reportedly consists of the Hyattsville Hills, Downtown Hyattsville, and Castle Manor subdivisions.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.70 square miles (6.99 km2), of which 2.67 square miles (6.92 km2) is land and 0.03 square miles (0.08 km2) is water.[14]
Climate
Typical of central Maryland, Hyattsville lies within the humid subtropical climate zone (Köppen: Cfa), characterized by hot humid summers and generally cool to mild winters, with high annual precipitation.[15] Hyattsville lies within USDA plant hardiness zone 7a.[16]
Hyattsville has attracted a significant gay and lesbian population. In 2000, same-sex couples accounted for 1.3 percent of households, more than double the national average.[18]
As of the 2010 U.S. census,[20] there were 17,557 people, 6,324 households, and 3,724 families residing in the city. The population density was 6,575.7 inhabitants per square mile (2,538.9/km2). There were 6,837 housing units at an average density of 2,560.7/sq mi (988.7/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 33.2% White, 35.6% African American, 0.8% Native American, 4.4% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 21.4% from other races, and 4.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 34.0% of the population (16.4% Salvadorean, 4.1% Mexican, 3.1% Guatemalan, 1.2% Honduran, 1.1% Dominican, 0.8% Puerto Rican).
There were 6,324 households, of which 33.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.4% were married couples living together, 15.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 41.1% were non-families. 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.39.
The median age in the city was 32.1 years. 22.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 12.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 34.7% were from 25 to 44; 23.2% were from 45 to 64; and 7.2% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 50.8% male and 49.2% female.
Crime
According to FBI crime statistics, the violent crime rate per 1,000 residents has significantly decreased in Hyattsville, from 11.42 in 2007[21] to 4.64 in 2019.[22]
The Hyattsville Historic District of the city is home Victorian houses built in the late 1880s and Sears bungalows and Arts & Crafts houses built between the wars (late 1910s and early 1940s).[24]
Downtown Hyattsville underwent revitalization in the early 2000s with the development of Arts District Hyattsville, part of the Gateway Arts District, a private project which includes townhomes, live-work units, and retail space.[25]
When first incorporated, Hyattsville was run by a Board of Commissioners; in May 1900, it switched to a mayor and common council system. Today, the city government consists of a popularly elected mayor and a ten-person city council. Each of the five wards in the city are represented by two popularly elected council members.
In January 2015, the Hyattsville Council passed a charter amendment to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in city elections, making Hyattsville one of the few jurisdictions in the United States that has done so.[32] In December 2016, the city expanded voting rights again, granting non-citizen residents the right to vote in municipal elections.[33]
Hyattsville Elementary, Felegy Elementary, Hyattsville Middle, and Northwestern High School, along with the Chelsea School, St. Matthews, DeMatha, and St. Jerome Academy are located within the city limits.
During the era of legally-required racial segregation of schools, black students from Hyattsville attended Lakeland High School in College Park in the period 1928–1950;[39]Fairmont Heights High School, then near Fairmount Heights, replaced Lakeland High and served black students only from 1950 to 1964; around 1964 legally-required racial segregation of schools ended.[40]
Private schools
Chelsea School (5–12) for students with language-based learning disabilities and ADD/ADHD
St. Francis International School (Catholic) (K–8) (St. Mark the Evangelist Campus)—As of 2013[update] it is primarily used for summer programs and athletics, with classes held in the Silver Spring campus.[41]
Formerly St. Mark the Evangelist School,[42] closed and merged into Saint Francis International, which opened in 2010.[43] Beginning in 2013 College Park Academy (CPA) leased the St. Francis building;[41] in 2017 CPA moved to its permanent Riverdale Park campus.[44]
St. Jerome Academy (Catholic) (Pre-K–8)
St. Matthew's Parish Day School (Episcopal) (Pre-K–K)
US 1 northbound in Hyattsville. The Trolley Trail trailhead can be seen at the right.
Several major surface highways serve Hyattsville. The most prominent of these is U.S. Route 1, which follows Rhode Island Avenue and Baltimore Avenue through the center of the city. US 1 connects southward to Washington, D.C., and northward through College Park to Interstate 95/Interstate 495 (the Capital Beltway). U.S. Route 1 Alternate follows the southern section of Baltimore Avenue to Bladensburg and provides an alternate route to Washington, D.C. Maryland Route 410 follows East-West Highway, connecting many of Washington, D.C.'s inner suburbs with Hyattsville. Two other state highways serving to connect Hyattsville to nearby towns include Maryland Route 208 and Maryland Route 500.
Prince George's County Police Department District 1 Station in Hyattsville serves areas outside of the city that are not located in an incorporated municipality that maintains its own police department.[48]
In 2017, the Hyattsville City Police Department became the first law enforcement agency in the United States to put a Chevrolet Bolt (all-electric) fully marked police patrol vehicle into service. It has since added an all-electric police motorcycle, and six public electric vehicle charging stations, which are free to use by the public.[49]
Chase Young, American football player, graduate of DeMatha[52]
In popular culture
The city was involved in a minor controversy in April 2006. In the episode airing April 27, the Geena Davis television series Commander in Chief depicted Hyattsville as having twelve murders in six months; it also indirectly depicted the city as being an urban ghetto dominated by poor minorities. The city and Prince George's County were very upset at ABC. On May 1, ABC formally apologized to both the city and county.[53]
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United States of America
Maryland
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