Hyattstown - Rural Roadside Village

Hyattstown was founded in 1798 by Jesse Hyatt, a successful Frederick County farmer. Now, almost 190 years later, its original architecture -- mostly two and a half story frame structures with three or four bay facades -- remains intact with few intrustions. Structures are evenly spaced and close to the road.

In 1804 the town had six houses; the number doubled by 1811. Incorporation by the Maryland legislature came in 1809. A grist mill along nearby Little Bennett Creek had operated since the late 1700s. Quarries in the area shipped roofing slate for the Capitol and other buildings in Washington. THe Hyattstown Volunteers were organized as the town's response to the War of 1812. Three years later, Hyattstown had become one of Montgomery County's "hundreds" -- today's version of an election district. By 1860 Hyattstown is remembered as a thriving community. The motto of its Brass Band was "not to be excelled by any Band in the county." A postmaster, two blacksmiths, three carpenters and undertakers, a physician, a miller, a shoemaker, a tailor,, and makers of carriages, buggies, saddles, and harnesses made up a portion of the town's population of 150 in the 1870s.

J.E.B. Stuart's Confederate cavalry is said to have occupied Hyattstown, skirmishing with Union troops there in September 1862, prior to Antietam. The following month Union troops pursued Stuart through the town after his raid in Pennsylvania. In 1863 the Union Sixth Corps stopped briefly in Hyattstown on its way to Gettysburg.

In 1831 freight traffic was diverted by the new Baltimore & Ohio Railroad from Hyattstown's main street, but until 1958 and completion of nearby Interstate 270, Route 355 carried not only soldiers to war, but grain crops and farm herds to market, presidential motorcades to Camp David, as well as modern-day commuters.

Hyattstown - Representative Buildings

The Davis House
The Davis House, a once elegant brick federal style home in the corner of Hyattstown, was built between 1810 and 1820 on one of the original lots laid out by town founder Jesse Hyatt. Seven owners can be traced between 1815 and 1979 when the property, having been empty and deteriorated during the mid-1900s, was donated to Friends of Historic Hyattstown, Inc. Assisted by grants from the Maryland Historical Trust, the County Community Development agency, and many individuals, the Friends have overseen stabilization work, masonry, roof, and rear wall repairs, removal of vegetation and a deteriorated front porch (said to have been full-length and topped by a balustrade accessible from the second floor), and installation of a new wood shingle roof. Offers to purchase to property have been invited for review and decision in February 1988.

The Hyattstown Methodist Episcopal Churches

The North Church, is bounded on east and north by a cemetery of some 200 stones with the oldest behind the church. Built in 1856, it replaced an 1804 log structure that burned in 1852.

The South Church is located on the other side of Frederick Road from the North church. Researchers find that while the 1844 Methodist General Conference split over the slavery question, forming north and south branches, Hyattstown did not experience this separation until after the Civil War and construction of the South church in 1875. With reunification in 1939, the congregation resumed use of the pre-separation North church. The South church has been in private ownership since 1952.

The Hyatt House Hotel
The Hyatt House Hotel, considered "an anchor of the Hyattstown streetscape: by preservationist researchers, is a log and frame house built in several sections. This structure, used as a residence, hotel, and village store, is believed to be one of the oldest buildings in town with probable construction by Jacob Smith in the vicinity of 1802-1807.

Hyattstown Schoolhouses

The Hyattstown School, accessed from Second Alley, is a two-room, 24'x26' schoolhouse. After serving grades 1-7 for some 60 years, it was auctioned in 1947, and private owners enlarged it for residential purposes. The house has a gable roof. There is a small wooden front porch at about the middle of the east facade. This schoolhouse was preceeded by ...

Swamp College or The Old Hyattstown School was a one-room structure built during the 1830s about 250 feet from Frederick Road and dubbed "Swamp College" because of its low, marshy location. The original school served grades 1-8 until the late 1870s.

Other Buildings of Note

The century-old Hyattstown Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) built in 1871 to replace the church's 1837 log meeting house.

The Brengle-Burdette House which could have been built as early as 1804.

The Zeigler House which housed the first Singer Sewing Machine office opened in Montgomery County.

The Perry Browning House which was probably built in 1876.

The Flemish-bonded brick two-story McElfresh/Smith/Darby House built at the bend of the Great Road shortly after 1813.

The Gardner House, typical of the architectural heritage of Hyattstown.

Hyattstown Mill - Individual Historic Site

Along with the town, the nearby Hyattstown Mill Complex on Hyattstown Mill Road -- a grist mill operation in existence prior to the platting of Hyattstown in 1798 -- was designated an individual site to be protected under the county's preservation ordinance.

The historical/cultural and architectural/design signficance that lead to designation of the mill follows:

	Time and Place Preserved (1988)		Hyattstown Walking Trail (1978)
	Master Plan Testimony (1982)		"Great Road" Theme Events (1977)
	A Roadside Town Preserved (1986)		History of the Hyatt House (1988)
	History of Little Bennett Valley (198x)		Early History of Hyattstown School (1942)
	History of Hyattstown (197x)		Hyattstown Hamlet Project (1978)

Contact Friends of Historic Hyattstown at hyattstown@aol.com