One of Hyattsville’s most distinctive buildings reflects the city’s history over much of the 20th century.
Built in the pre-war era, the Magruder Flat Iron Building at 5101 Baltimore Ave. greets visitors heading into downtown on Route 1 from the south.
The 6,400-square-foot commercial building is shaped like a triangle to take advantage of the strip of land created by the highway and the train tracks parting ways.
It’s also a mini version of the 22-story Flatiron Building in New York City from 1902 and there are at least two dozen other buildings with the same nickname.
According to the Prince George’s County Historical Society, the Hyattsville Flat Iron sits on a unique triangular-shaped property once part of the H.O. Simmons 1894 subdivision in between Route 1 and the old trolley line and railroad, now the Rhode Island Avenue Trolley Trail.
The Flat Iron” replaced earlier structures from about 1920-1927 once used as a market as shown below in this 1927 photograph. William Pinkney Magruder, Hyatttsville’s former mayor and a wealthy landowner, reconstructed the building in the 1930s as it is largely seen today.
Around 2002, owner Chuck Castle repainted the building mustard yellow with a signature squiggle, giving it something of an Art Deco feel.
Over the years, the Magruder Flat Iron Building has been home to a long list of tenants: a barber shop, a furniture repair company, a craft store, a tax preparation service, a recording studio, a florist and a TV repair shop, among other things.
Its newest tenant is real estate firm Go Brent, which also has offices in Silver Spring and specializes on the Route 1 corridor, and now occupies the first floor. Since 2015, Ballet, Tap and All That Jazz dance and fitness studios have occupied the space above it on the second floor.
