February 2022 Newsletter - English

NEWSLETTER

FEBRUARY 2022 Hyattsville Community Development Corporation(HCDC)

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Our Mission:

₋ To develop arts and public spaces; ₋ To spur economic development and the quality of community life; ₋ To encourage widespread leadership for community revitalization; and ₋ To rebuild the City’s commercial corridors.

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Credits

Published by Hyattsville Community Development Corporation, February 2022

The Hyattsville CDC is a 501 c(3) non-profit organization. We are professionals, tradesmen, business owners, artists, and longtime and new residents. We work to reverse indifference and blight in the City of Hyattsville and surrounding communities. We recognize Hyattsville’s social, cultural, and material assets, and are committed to harnessing our community’s potential and talents to revitalize the City and neighboring areas.

Our board and staff are comprised of Hyattsville residents and local stakeholders. We are always open and eager to interact with those interested in our community.

Address: 4314 Farragut St. Hyattsville, MD 20781 Telephone: (301) 683-8267 Email: admin@hyattsvillecdc.org For more information visit us at: Hycdc.org

All photographs are credited to the Hyattsville Community Development Corporation (CDC) unless otherwise noted below.

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Table of Contents Community Highlights_________________________________________ 4-6 Celebrating Black History Month_____________________________ 7-9 COVID-19 Resources_____________________________________________ 10 Fresh Off the Presses____________________________________________11 Bursting on the Scene___________________________________________12 Support Hyattsville CDC________________________________________ 13

Legend: Extra Tidbit! Click me to head online to find something related.

Did you know: Provides more information and fun facts.

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Community Highlights Lavonda's House of Beauty - OPEN for business Welcome Lavonda's House of Beauty to the Route One Corridor. Located at 4344 Farragut St. The boutique hours of operation are Monday - Saturday from 10 am - 8 pm | closed: Sunday. The owner is Keonda King, a black business owner that sells a variety of things at the store and online like (beauty products, clothes, shoes, health products, accessories and lingerie).

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Community Highlights (Cont.)

Welcome back to the neighborhood Tiered & Petite The popular bakery Tiered & Petite is back in downtown Hyattsville. Located at 5100 Baltimore Ave, open Wednesday - Saturday from 9 am - 6pm; Sun: 10am-4pm | closed: Monday,Tuesday. The bakery shop joins our mouth watering Sugar Vault Desserts, Shortcake Bakery and D.C. Sweet Potato Cake bakery goods contingent.

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Community Highlights (Cont.)

NEW - Hyattsville Library Opening Late March 2022 The new Hyattsville public library at 6530 Adelphi Rd. will be open in late March due to minor issues with inspection and permits.

Prince George’s County Memorial Library System Chief Operating Officer for Support Services, Michael Gannon said, "We are hoping the Covid-19 levels have significantly decreased so that we can have an actual Grand Opening ceremony with a ribbon cutting."

To view more photos of the new and improved library click here.

A New Taqueria in Route One - Tacos Los Pérez Tacos los Pérez joins the other Taquerias along Route One - including Little Miner Tacos and Pollo Sabroso in Brentwood, Taqueria La Placita in Edmonston, Tacos a la Madre in Berwyn and Taqueria Habanero in College Park. Tacos Los Pérez is located at 5803 Baltimore Ave, open from 9 am - 10 pm daily, you can dine-in, take out or order delivery. The owner of this new tacos resturant is Hector Perez.

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Every February the U.S honors the contributions and sacrifices of African Americans who have helped shape the nation. Black History month celebrates the rich cultural heritage, triumphs and adversities that are an indelible part of our country's history.

Below are links to local and regional programs celebrating Black History Month in 2022:

Click here to access Black History Month Virtual Classes and Programs in Prince George's County.

Click here to learn more about Black History in Prince George's County.

Want to learn more about Maryland's African-American Heritage click here.

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BLACK HISTORY IN HYATTSVILLE Hyattsville was a profoundly segregated community even before the emergence of the use of raciallyrestrictive covenants here in the early 20th Century.

The data we’ve developed, starting with the 1900 U.S. Census, paints a picture of Hyattsville as a white suburban enclave within Prince George’s County.

While in 1900 Prince George’s County’s Black population comprised 40% of the total, in Hyattsville Black folks made up only 12% of the community.

Based on census walk sheet analysis over the next 50 years both the County and the Town of Hyattsville become more exclusively white.

Throughout that era, and until 1950, both implicit and explicit segregation practices determined neighborhood racial composition in Hyattsville.

Explicit segregation was practiced where the use of racially-restrictive covenants prevented the sale or lease of homes to Black people in newly developed subdivisions established between 1906 and 1949. However more implicit segregation was found in that, with the exception of two very small neighborhoods, the bulk of homes built in the oldest subdivisions in Hyattsville (1870-1905) had few or no persons of color residing in them. However, communities of color aggregated in two Hyattsville neighborhoods: the Melrose Park/ Melrose Bottoms area was principally a crowded single-family rental home cluster in the Northwest Branch floodplain owned primarily by the local business leader and future Mayor Dr. Hillary T. Willis.

The Lancaster family farmstead was the hub of the other Black neighborhood: centering upon and radiating out from Augustus Lancaster‘s first purchase of farmland in Hyattsville. In 1887 Dr. Charles Wells sold Augustus Lancaster Jr. and his wife Katie a parcel 83/100ths of an acre in area: The plot of land “Lot A” was a re-subdivided section of the nearly 9-acre Lot 15, of J.A. Register’s Addition to Hyattsville.

But Augustus and his son Thomas then purchased more lots adjoining that first one and built-out and sold additional housing along the west side of the B&O Railroad line and along Block Street between the unpaved Railroad Avenue and the Baltimore & Washington Turnpike Road (now Baltimore Avenue).

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BLACK HISTORY IN HYATTSVILLE (CONT.) Their economic activity grew their holdings fivefold and led to the creation of addition housing opportunities for Black Hyattsville residents and the purchase of other nearby homes built by Black families. While overall from 1900 -1940 Hyattsville’s Black population grew from 152 to 303 souls, though as a percentage of the overall population Black folks went from 12 % of Hyattsville’s residents in 1900 down steadily to 5% by 1940.

According to primary census data the Lancaster farmstead had 41-Black residents living in 6-households, 4 of them owner-occupied in 1900. By 1940 the Lancaster farmstead area had 58-Black residents living in 10-households, 4 of them owner-occupied.

Photo from "Images of America Hyattsville" by Andra Damron on behalf of the Hyattsville Preservation Association. Damron, A. (2008). Hyattsville. Arcadia Pub.

Both Augustus and Thomas were also active figures in local Republican Party politics in the late 19th and early 20th Century. Their names made the papers and their work included expanding voter turnout through education and training in the then “Bladensburg” voting district.

Disenfranchisement efforts in Maryland were increasing in that same period.

Literacy tests and property ownership were some of the requirements that would make it harder for Black men in the county and statewide to vote or serve on a jury in the early 20th century.

The Lancaster family seems to have served as a bulwark against the erosion of black rights in the Maryland post re-construction era, and a source of community stability for Black residents in Hyattsville.

One of several property-owning single female head of households in Hyattsville, Lancaster neighbor Ida S Johnson (nee Burke) was a board member for the Hyattsville-Bladensburg-Brentwood-Lakeland Federation of Colored Women of Prince George’s County.

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The City of Hyattsville is offering free, non-appointment COVID-19 vaccines and testing at the First United Methodist Church, 6201 Belcrest Road.

Vaccine clinic: Tuesday from 9 am - 5 pm. (Except holidays) Testing clinic: Monday, Thursday from 9 am - 3 pm and Saturday from 9 am - 1 pm.

(Except holidays) Check the City's website for more information about special weekend vaccine clinics.

PLEASE NOTE: Minors must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Anyone 12+ may receive a vaccine.

Booster shots are offered at the vaccine clinic. Learn more here.

The County is distributing COVID-19 rapid test kits at local community centers and libraries on a weekly basis.

To find a location near you click here.

The Federal government is giving away four free COVID tests per residential address. Request your tests by mail at covidtest.gov or Espanol covidtest.gov/es, or by phone at 1-800-232-0233.

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Fresh Off the Presses

The best barbecue resturant in DC, Maryland, and Virginia 2022

February 3, 2022 |Washington Post #1. 2Fifty Texas BBQ

"One anecdote, I think, tells you everything about Fernando Gonzalez, the mastermind behind 2Fifty’s superb barbecue. 2Fifty’s Salvadoran co-founders, Gonzalez and wife, Debby Portillo, still channel their personal history through their Texas-style smokehouse.

You see it in specials like the brisket tacos and barbecue pupusas or in everyday sides such as the fried sweet plantains and caramelized pineapple. This is Central Texas barbecue with a Central American soul."

4700 Riverdale Rd., Riverdale Park, Md. 240-764-8763, 2fiftybbq.com; 1309 Fifth St. NE inside Union Market. 202-961-1738, its2fiftys.com #2. Federalist Pig

"I don’t know who’s been more frustrated with Fed Pig’s long-delayed debut in Hyattsville, Md.: me or pitmaster and partner Rob Sonderman, the man who gave Washington its first taste of craft barbecue when he was leading DCity Smokehouse. Fed Pig still has the best, most decadent, barbecue sandwiches anywhere."

1654 Columbia Rd. NW; 5504 Baltimore Ave., Hyattsville, Md.; 4856 Cordell Ave., Bethesda, Md., inside Ensemble Kitchen. federalistpig.com

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BURSTING ON THE SCENE IC CT PUBL T PROJE

TY ART PAR

COMING TO WEST HYATTSVILLE METRO JUNE 2022

N PAIN

A CITIZE

Planning is underway to stage a new "Bursting on the Scene" in June 2022. We thank everyone who joined us in the last Bursting on the Scene community painting event. The Hyattsville CDC, in partnership with Washington Metro Area Transit Authority's "Art in Transit" brought together neighbors, city leaders, — even children to make art, to engage and beautify the Metro's Station's public space as their own. To learn more, view photos and videos click here.

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Do you love what we do?

Please consider donating To support our various economic, community, and arts related programing. Hyattsville CDC is a 501 (C)3 tax exempt non-profit; as such, contributions may qualify as a charitable deduction for federal income tax purposes. Please consult with your tax adviser or the IRS to determine whether a contribution is deductible. visit: hycdc.org/donate

Donate by

Please address your check to the “Hyattsville Community Development Corporation” or “Hyattsville CDC.” Our mailing address is 4314 Farragut Street, Hyattsville, MD 20781.

Donate by

We also accept donations via PayPal! If you’d like to sponsor or support a specific Hyattsville CDC activity, please leave us a note in the PayPal checkout process. Just select “Add special instructions to recipient,” to leave us instructions. If you have any problems, please send us an email with your name, how much you’d like to donate, and the program you’d like to support to eisenberg@hyattsvillecdc.org. We can provide you with a receipt of your donation.

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