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A−History
History · Hyattsville

Hyattsville’s post office opened in 1859, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 76% of U.S. towns · #41 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it

5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 2,049 buildings. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1880.

1859first post office
5on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
11old photos & papers
14famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hyattsville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hyattsville began

When was Hyattsville founded?

1859

The Hyattsville post office opened in 1859, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 288 in 18802020 census: 21,187167 years

How historic is Hyattsville?

A−

More historic than 76% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Hyattsville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Hyattsville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hyattsville is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #41 of 261 in Maryland. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hyattsville’s overall grade.
Founding era1859, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194016.3% of homes (±3.0) · typical MD town 3.3% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register5 listings, 2,055 historic buildings, 980 per 10,000 residents · typical MD town 0.9 · U.S. 2.4A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 76%
NewerOlder
Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 85%

Few Maryland towns list much on the Register (a typical Maryland town has 0.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Hyattsville’s 980 sits above most of its state (96% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 2,055 historic buildings outnumber those of 99% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Hyattsville’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A historic districtThe Hyattsville Historic District takes in 2,049 historic buildings.On the map since 19003 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1979. Watch Hyattsville change.Lost villages5 hamlets and corners are still on the map.Landmarks on the Register5 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

5 listings protect 2,055 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2,055
each building in a district counts
first listed
1977
Ash Hill
Ash Hill, built 1840Hyattsville ArmoryHyattsville Historic DistrictUS Post Office-Hyattsville MainNew Town Center
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Colonial Revival2
Second Empire1
Queen Anne1
Italianate1
Bungalow1
Spanish Revival1
Ash HillBuilt 1840
Hyattsville ArmoryBuilding
Hyattsville Historic DistrictSecond Empire
US Post Office-Hyattsville MainColonial Revival
New Town CenterBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

On the map

Hyattsville on the map, 1900 to 1979

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hyattsville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Hyattsville on the 1900 USGS mapHyattsville on the 1934 USGS mapHyattsville on the 1979 USGS map1900Washington sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Hyattsville.

Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Hyattsville’s post office has been open since 1859.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Castle ManorEllavilleHyattsville HillsKirkwoodQueens Chapel Manor
Gone or out of use
Queen Chapel Airportairport

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Hyattsville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hyattsville.

Read it all →

In the 1720s, John Beall acquired land in the area and established Beall Town. 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.

The city's founder, Christopher Clark Hyatt (1799–1884), purchased his first parcel of land in the area in 1845. 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.

ChaptersRevitalization projects

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hyattsville, 1840 to 1998

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1840BuiltAsh Hill is built
  3. 1859Post officeThe Hyattsville post office opens
  4. 1878In the archiveAtlas of fifteen miles around Washington, including the County of Prince George, Maryland
  5. 20th century
  6. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1913In the archiveReception to U.S. Senate Petitioners, Hyattsville, MD, July 31, 1913
  8. 1920In the archiveMachen
  9. 1949Born hereHarold Fox is born here
  10. 1966Born hereDanny Ferry is born here
  11. 1995Born hereJohn Johnson is born here
  12. 1998Born hereFrances Tiafoe is born here
By decade

Hyattsville, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s2 items
Atlas of fifteen miles around Washington, including the County of Prince George, Maryland1878Atlas of fifteen miles around Washington, including t…MapAtlas of fifteen miles around Washington, including the county of Montgomery, Maryland1879Atlas of fifteen miles around Washington, including t…Map
1910s–1920s9 items
Reception to U.S. Senate Petitioners, Hyattsville, MD, July 31, 19131913Reception to U.S. Senate Petitioners, Hyattsville, MD…Machen1920MachenMachen1920MachenMachen1920MachenCarter plant1920Carter plantCarter plant1920Carter plantHouse1920HouseElectric Institute of Washington. Hyattsville cooking school1920Electric Institute of Washington. Hyattsville cooking…Mrs. Maisel and her home, 28 Bayly Ave1920Mrs. Maisel and her home, 28 Bayly Ave
1930s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Reception to U.S. Senate Petitioners, Hyattsville, MD, July 31, 1913
Retake this viewReception to U.S. Senate Petitioners, Hyattsville, MD, July 31, 1913, 1913

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hyattsville’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Hyattsville, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,0001880190019201940196019802000202021,187

Grew from 288 people in 1880 to 21,187 in 2020, more than tenfold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hyattsville’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

14 famous people were born in Hyattsville

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Frances TiafoeAmerican tennis player · b. 1998
Danny FerryAmerican basketball player · b. 1966
Harold FoxAmerican basketball player · b. 1949
John JohnsonAmerican football player · b. 1995
A
Austen RowlandAmerican basketball player · b. 1981
Anthony McFarland Jr.American football player · b. 1999
Help out

Finish Hyattsville’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewReception to U.S. Senate Petitioners, H…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Chillum3 historic placesC+Adelphi1 historic placeB−BrentwoodIts storyC+EdmonstonIts storyCUniversity Park1 historic placeA−Riverdale Park4 historic placesA−Mount Rainier2 historic placesB+Cottage CityIts storyCNorth Brentwood1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Hyattsville’s history

What year was Hyattsville founded?

The Hyattsville post office opened in 1859, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Hyattsville rank for history?

Hyattsville is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #41 of 261 in Maryland. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Hyattsville?

5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Ash Hill (listed 1977, the first), and 1 historic district, the Hyattsville Historic District, with 2,049 contributing buildings. 2,055 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Hyattsville?

16% of Hyattsville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1966.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (3), the Library of Congress (8), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (5), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.