Preserving Historic Hyattsville

In the late 1970s, a small group of Hyattsville residents began a movement to identify, photograph and document the remaining examples of the City's early housing stock. Built primarily between 1870 and 1930, many of the earliest dwellings, especially those along Baltimore Avenue (Route 1 or Rhode Island Avenue), had already been lost. Others had reached a dilapidated state or been divided into rooming houses. This research became the nucleus for a nomination to the U.S. National Park Service for consideration for a National Register Historic District. The National Register is a list of properties acknowledged by the Federal government as worthy of recognition and preservation. The Hyattsville District was accepted onto the National Register in 1982 and encompassed about 600 dwellings "representing the residential component of the present city that developed as a late 19^th- and early 20^th-century railroad town, and later as a streetcar suburb, around the intersection of Route 1 and Rhode Island Avenue." Homeowners within the district were in no way limited in control over their property except through existing local ordinances and zoning restrictions. Many of the same residents who gathered information for the National Register nomination, incorporated the Hyattsville Preservation Association (HPA) in the same year. This membership organization of homeowners and friends share an interest in "preserving and promoting the excellence of American design" found in the unique neighborhoods of the City of Hyattsville. The organization meets regularly to discuss issues related to the built environment, gardening, environmental and historical topics. Everyone is welcome to join. An annual house tour on the third Sunday in May is in it's twentieth year. A self-guided walking tour produced by the Association includes 24 sites at the core of the Historic District and identifies many residential and commercial treasures. This brochures will be reprinted in the near future.

Beall Town

2. Becky Livingston, formerly Historian of the Hyattsville Preservation Association, has written this thumbnail sketch of early Hyattsville: "Recorded evidence from the Eighteenth century suggests that there was a settlement on the site that later became Hyattsville called Beall Town, located close to what is now Marche Florist on Route 1. The little settlement never achieved town status and, in 1742, for unknown reasons, the residents of the hamlet petitioned to have a new town laid out one half mile below the site. The Act passed the colonial legislature, Bladensburg came into existence, and Beall Town was no more. On March 19, 1845, Christopher Clark Hyatt purchased a parcel of land located between the Baltimore & Ohio railroad and the Washington-Baltimore Turnpike. The presence of the railroad and the telegraph caused the location to be considered ideal for settlement and the surrounding lands began to be subdivided as housing lots. Thus began the construction of Hyattsville's large stock of Victorian residences, supplemented in later years by Twentieth century bungalows, arts and crafts and contemporary homes. The Act of Incorporation of the City of Hyattsville was signed into law on April 7, 1886. Conforming to the wishes of the founder, the City Charter forbade the sale of alcoholic beverages within the city limits. The little city grew from 20 homes in 1872 to 172 in 1882." Early Hyattsville developers were Thomas Parker, J.P. Bartholow, and Benjamin F. Guy who purchased approximately 10 acres between the turnpike and the railroad. One of Guy's "cottages" remains near the former level-grade crossing known as Melrose Crossing across from Marche Florist. Hyatt continued development into areas with streets currently named Crittenden, 40^th Place, 41^st Avenue and Decatur. Hyatt was forced to mortgage some of this area known as "Hyatt's Addition to Hyattsville" around 1877. The result and more early developers will be identified in the next column.

1870s and 1880s

3. According to the account published in "Hyattsville: Our Hometown," issued in 1986 to celebrate the city's centenary, Christopher Hyatt's "business failed to improve and by March 1878, Hyatt had mortgaged his household furnishings and two lots in Hyatt's Addition. On September 12, 1882, George Johnson and Louis D. Wine and their wives purchased land for $25,000 that was later subdivided into Wine and Johnson's first Addition. This land which was once the property of Col. Thomas Bowie, and now the estate of Joseph B. Bryan, was named 'Ravenswood.' Several of the Beale Town lots were within the boundaries of this property." The Evening Star of November 3, 1887, reported that "F.A. Holden (4110 Gallatin Street), formerly of the General Land Office, has a fine residence here, one of the first built on the Wine and Johnson plat..." This subdivision was bordered on the north by Hamilton Street, on the west by 40^th Place, on the south by Farragut and on the east by 42^nd Avenue.

Hyatt died in 1884 and the town charter, written by James C. Rogers, Jackson H. Ralston, and William Lewin, was presented to the State legislature by Delegate Fillmore Beall in 1886. This charter provided for a Board of Commissioner's who were authorized "to grade and pave streets, lanes and alleys and remove nuisances and obstructions therefrom restrain all disorders and disturbances, prevent all congregations of disorderly persons in public places, apprehend and fine all tramps and vagabonds, impose a tax on dogs, geese, hogs, and all other animals, runnng at large in the streets or totally prohibited the same."

The Single Tax, 1886

4. As April 15^th approaches with the dreaded deadline for filing income tax returns, it's interesting to note that just six years after it's incorporation in 1886, Hyattsville "made a name for itself" locally and nationally by becoming the first municipality in America to adopt the controversial single tax. The idea, based on a book entitled Progress and Poverty by Henry George, abolished taxes on both real and personal property. The Washington Post of July 2, 1892 reported that "Hyattsville is the first town in the United States to adopt the single tax system and abolish taxation on improvements. The new departure was taken at a meeting of the Board of Commissioners of the town held Thursday evening, and is the logical sequence of the abolition of personal taxes by the same board two years ago." The Post goes on to quote from a report by a Hyattsville committee on assessments: "Your committee seek[s] no reputation as prophets, nor do they hazard any, when they say that should Hyattsville be the first town in the Union to abolish taxation on houses, as it was the first to abolish personal taxes, the result from every material point of view will as a matter of course be of the greatest possible advantage to it. We will also reap the reward of those who see a great truth and have the courage to follow it." Prior to the acceptance of this proposal, Mr. J.H. Ralston had presided over a series of hearings which considered the Single Tax system.

Jackson H. Ralston, a Town Commissioner, equivalent to today's City Council member, was the primary advocate of a Single-tax system. He was an internationally prominent attorney and judge and in the same year of the tax experiment, built a magnificent house on a lot adjoining his mother Harriet's home on Wing Rest, now the 4200 block of Decatur Street.

Harriet Ralston and Other Early Land Developers

5. Harriet Ralston. In an earlier column we learned that her son Jackson, a lawyer and judge, had been a proponent of the Single Tax Experiment and had been instrumental in abolishing both personal and property taxes in the City. Harriet was one of several early Hyattsville women who owned land and developed it. In 1882, she purchased several lots in Hyatt's Addition. She built a house for herself and one for her son on a street called Wing Rest, now the 4200 block of Decatur. Her front-gabled "retreat cottage" is distinguished by its fine late Victorian trim and its three-story veranda. The veranda is supported by chamfered or beveled posts with molded capitals and bases. The porch balusters are jigsawn in an ornamental open pattern. This property was one of three in Hyattsville which was open for the Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage on Saturday, May 10^th, 1997. This self-guided tour, with fourteen sites along the Route 1 corridor, also highlighted properties in Riverdale, University Park and College Park. Also on display was the Riversdale Mansion. Another Hyattsville property featured belonged to an early Town Commissioner named Frederick Augustus Holden. His home on Ralston Avenue, now the 4100 block of Gallatin Street, is a rare example of Carpenter Gothic or Stick-style architecture. More on this house and another Holden property in the next column. The "twin" of Hyattsville's Lewis F. Holden house, called the Warren House in honor of the Town of Riverdale's longest continually serving mayor, was also featured on the Pilgrimage.

Two Holden's Build on a Street called Ralston

6. Was Ralston Avenue named after Harriet and or her son Jackson? Probably. Other streets in Hyattsville were named in honor of early developers and residents, such as land speculators Louis Wine (now 42^nd Avenue and George Johnson (now Farragut). After WII the streets were renamed in alphabetical and chronological order to conform with those in the nearby District of Columbia. Former Historian Francis X. Geary told a tale of soldiers returning home from the war and being unable to find their streets. At that time Ralston Avenue became the 4100 block of Gallatin Street. However, late in the nineteenth century the street was still called Ralston when two members of the Holden family build their homes: Frederic Augustus in 1883 and Lewis in 1897. They built in two very different architectural styles but with similar setbacks and scale. One house featured sharp peaks in the Gothic style and the other was Moorish with rounded arches but because of their similar mass the two were closely related. Frederic Augustus Holden was an early Town Commissioner and was active in local politics for many years. He was employed by the General Land Office. George N. Walker, a local contractor, built Frederic's Carpenter Gothic house with scissor trusses at the peak of the front gable in 1883. On an adjoining lot, Lewis Francis Holden, a bookbinder, built a two and one-half story dwelling in the Queen Anne style in 1897. A house built from the same design pattern was constructed in what is now Riverdale Park, near the Calvert Mansion in 1913. We have been unable to establish the exact relationship between these two Holdens even after substantial genealogical research partly due to missing deed records and a possible recording error in existing records. We do know that at the time of the 1900 census, the Frederick A. Holden family lived at what is now 4110 Gallatin Street and the Lewis Francis Holden family lived next door. By 1910 the Lewis Holden's were gone. Both families are buried in Rock Creek Cemetery.

Early Commercial Development

7. Early development in the suburb of Hyattsville began along the Washington-to-Baltimore turnpike and Baltimore and Ohio Railroad line. This was true for both residential and commercial structures. We have already met some early settlers like Jackson Ralston and Frederic Holden and been introduced to their private residences. Hyattsville also had a dynamic commercial area along the same corridor. This area is described in Prince George's County Sites and District's Plan published by the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission (1990) as follows: " The Hyattsville commercial area is located on the east side of the present incorporated City of Hyattsville and is centered around the intersection of Rhode Island Avenue and Baltimore Avenue (U.S. Route 1) and Gallatin Street. Buildings within the commercial area represent two important phases in the development of the city, the railroad suburb and resort town of the 1870s, and the streetcar and automobile suburb of the early 20^th century. Approximately four blocks north and south of the intersection of Baltimore Avenue and Rhode Island Avenue have been surveyed [buildings were photographed and dated]; the blocks on Rhode Island Avenue south of Baltimore Avenue contain the area's older structures. Some of the smaller brick buildings, which are usually two stories and close to the street, date from the 1880s. Many of the buildings on Baltimore Avenue to the north, erected from the turn-of-the-century through the 1950s, are more substantial and have larger setbacks to accommodate the automobile."

Our centenary publication entitled "Hyattsville -- Our Hometown" (1886-1986) describes this same area: "While the rest of the town was taking shape, the business section was also developing an identity. With only a few years remaining in the 19^th century, Hyattsville boasted three grocery stores, three butcher shops, a dry goods and a notions store, a post office, blacksmith and tinsmith shops, two wood and coal dealers, a livery stable, two town fire halls, and a land office." Today, the parameters of this former commercial area are approximately from Crittenden Street on the south to Jefferson Street on the north along Baltimore Avenue.

Dr. Rodgers, Inventor

8. One early Hyattsville citizen of national repute was Dr. J. Harris Rogers whose invention of underground and underwater telegraphy was used during World War 1. As reported by his late grandniece, Ellen Rogers in "Hyattsville -- Our Hometown," he "had been working on this invention periodically since 1908, but it was not until 1916 ... that he foresaw the importance of perfecting this means of communication. When the United States entered the war against Germany in April 1917, he patriotically offered his discovery to the government. An investigation by the Navy Department established its extraordinary importance and, by special request of the Secretary of the Navy, letters of patent were issued to him." More than fifty patents were issued to him in his lifetime relating to the electric light, the telegraph and telephone.

"This modest and gifted scientist was born in Franklin, Tennessee, on July 13, 1850, the son of James Webb Rogers and Cornelia Ann Harris Rogers. He was educated by private tutors and at St. Charles College in London. ... After returning to the Untied States, the young scientist, then 22, collaborated with his brother, John Whitson Rogers, in inventing a system of embossed telegraphy, patented in 1872. ...The Rogers family moved to Prince George's County in 1877, residing first at the Parthenon, a historic frame house (now destroyed) where Bladensburg Junior High School [formerly stood]. They later moved to Hyattsville."

Dr. Rogers lived in a large, white frame house called Firwood. His laboratory was located in a large, separate building behind the house. This historic house and his laboratory were razed in 1938 to make way for the new County Service Building located at the corner of Baltimore Boulevard and Farragut Street.

Other Lost Homes

9. In addition to J. Harris Rogers' house called Firwood, several other homes belonging to the first families of Hyattsville were lost in this century. The Hyatt Mansion and Ravenswood were two such structures. "The Early Years" in Hyattsville: Our Hometown includes the following reference to founding father Christopher Clarke Hyatt's Mansion: " Hyatt bought another piece of property on July 2, 1845, when the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad sold three acres they had been forced to take back from the 'Black Ask' tract when it had been separated from the main parcel by the railroad tracks. It was on this property that Hyatt built his imposing 32-room mansion."

Located approximately where the Justice Center now stands, the vista from the Turnpike was one of an elegant Victorian structure fronted by a double porch perched at the top of a gently rising expanse of lawn. The back of the mansion was located in close proximity to what is now the eastern side of the 4900 block of 43^rd Avenue. By World War II the mansion had become a dilapidated rooming house.

Also located on 43^rd Avenue (5200-5300 block) was Ravenswood, the home of Colonel Thomas Bowie. His house on Olive Street was only slightly less imposing that Hyatt's Mansion. Hyatt had initially purchased the Ravenswood tract from Col. Bowie but lost it in 1882 when his business failed. It later became the property of George Johnson and Louis D. Wine and their wives. The area immediately surrounding Ravenswood is now part of the St. Jerome Roman Catholic Church complex. Bonnie Brae, the home of developer O.B. Zantzinger, is a notable exception to the losses discussed above. It still exists although in a greatly altered state on 42^nd Avenue. More next time on Mr. Zantzinger and the development of Hyattsville Hills.

Johnson and Wine's Additions

10. We have already discussed such early Hyattsville developers as our namesake, Christopher Clarke Hyatt and been introduced to several others including Louis D. Wine and George Johnson. According to Hyattsville: Our Hometown, Wine and Johnson and their wives purchased land that was later subdivided into Johnson and Wine's Additions to Hyattsville in 1882. Part of that land had formerly belonged to Col. Bowie (the portions around Ravenswood) and several of the Beale Town lots which Hyatt had previously owned. The selling price was $25,000.

The "outtakes" (text not included in the final version) from Our Hometown, located at the Prince George's County Historical Society Library, housed at the Marietta Mansion in Glenn Dale, state that "the first and second additions contained the following streets and avenues: Spencer [4200 block of Gallatin], Franklin [3800-4300 blocks of Jefferson], Avon [4200-4300 block of Farraugt], Luttrell [5100-6000 blocks of 41^st Avenue], Circle, Terrace, Washington, Maple Alley and Cedar Alley. The 'Ravenswood' with a large lawn was sold separately. It was considered the most beautiful of all the homes around the Nation's Capital."

"Many of the purchasers of the lots were business and professional men from Washington. These lots were purchased for the purpose of building summer cottages and in a few cases winter lodging for people who lived on the large farms. The few year-round residents looked forward to the summer months. It was during this time that rooms could be rented to those wishing to take advantage of the many recreational activities available. The Eastern and Western Branches offered boating, fishing, and swimming. The large lawns provided areas for tennis, croquet, and horseshoe pitching." Most of these summer activities are still available today.

Old Houses That Remain

11. While the homes of early settlers such as J. Harris Rogers' Firwood and Col. Bowie's Ravenswood have been lost, several remain. One of the earliest was located on the old County Road and appears on an 1873 Hyattsville map drawn by E.R. McKean. Currently located at 4901 40^th Place, this large three-bay, two-and-one-half story square house faces southwest and is believed to have been the home of Thomas Parker, who along with Benjamin Guy, owned a ten acre triangular tract between the railroad and the turnpike. Two of Guy's Cottages remain in the Melrose Crossing area which Hyattsville: Our Hometown describes as a location "convenient for those visiting Spa Spring in nearby Bladensburg." [The Spa] "offered not only healthful mineral water--free to residents--but picnicking and fishing, boating, or swimming in the branches. The grounds around the water contained many Indian artifacts and a great many arrowheads were discovered in Magruder's Meadows. Large Mason jars filled with arrowheads were found in many of the early homes in the area." One of these cottages, located across Baltimore Avenue from Marche Florist, is close to its original form while its neighbor is vastly altered.

Around the turn of the century, many new homes were being built. Herman Burgess, a City councilman and prominent Washington contractor, was responsible for erecting more than fifteen homes along Baltimore Street in the southeastern part of town. At the same time, some of the older, grand houses were being restored. One of these houses remains today, albeit in an altered state. Called Bonnie Brae, it was located on Wine Avenue, now 5803 42^nd Avenue. O.B. Zantzinger, a local developer, added the porches and portico in 1900. The property was formerly owned by Francis H. Smith and has been described as "a typical Southern home, with broad verandas and large porch pillars." Many old homes, although less grand than Bonnie Brae, still remain. More on those houses and the early citizens who built them later.

GWU Study of Hyattsville, 1900-1960

12. Students from Professor Richard Longstreth's American Studies class at George Washington University have researched various aspects of life in early Hyattsville. One result of their studies is a paper entitled Hyattsville, Maryland: Social and Economic Aspects 1900-1960. This paper includes a tidy summary of our early subdivisions.

"There were twenty-two houses in Hyattsville when Christopher Hyatt and Benjamin Guy began subdividing their lands into the first of the town's speculative residential developments in the early 1870s. By 1890, one hundred seventy-two houses had been built, and by 1900, a population of 1,222 had settled in the area about the intersection of the railroad and the turnpike. [Source: I Believe in America: 90 Years of Community Growth and Development in the City of Hyattsville, City of Hyattsville, 1976]. The Guy subdivision on Emerson, Burlington, and Buchanan Streets, the Hyatt division on Melrose Street (Crittenden Street), the Holloday division to the south of that, a number of smaller subdivisions in the same area, and the Johnson and Wine first subdivision west of Maryland (Baltimore) Avenue, contained most of the town's population. {From: Neighborhoods of Prince George's County, Community Renewal Program Prince George's County, 1974]. The Johnson and Wine subdivision, with its regular street placement, represented an improvement over the earlier Hyatt and Guy divisions which had been further subdivided and developed independently in small sections along winding, unplanned ways. These have left their imprint on the city's streets to the present."