Hyattsville, MD news and local guide

The city's founder, Christopher Clark Hyatt, who lived from 1799 to 1884, bought his first land there in 1845. He opened a store and began delivering mail, and in his 1859 application to become postmaster he officially named the community Hyattsville. After the Civil War, Hyatt and other landowners divided their property into lots and sold them, and the town grew. Hyattsville was incorporated as a city on April 7, 1886. In 1893 the town's commissioners changed the property tax so that it fell only on the value of land, not buildings. Opponents went to court, and on appeal the Maryland Court of Appeals struck the tax down as a violation of the state constitution. Since 2000 the city has seen major redevelopment, including new housing and shops in the Arts District Hyattsville, part of the Gateway Arts District, and around the Hyattsville Crossing station and the Mall at Prince George's, where University Town Center combines condominiums, student housing, offices, a public plaza, a movie theater and a campus of Prince George's Community College. Sources Wikipedia: Hyattsville, Maryland