Another sign of Route 1’s past will be preserved: the Blue Bird Cab Co. sign on Baltimore Avenue in Hyattsville’s Arts District across from Busboys and Poets is one you’ve likely missed driving by.

As demolition continues this week on several older buildings at 5300 Baltimore Avenue in Hyattsville’s Arts District, the Blue Bird Cab Co. sign remains standing.

Hyattsville City Administrator Tracey Douglas told the Hyattsville Wire that the sign will be preserved as part of historical requirements on the developer. It will be used as part of the apartments’ interior design.

The distinctive yellow sign next to the historic Armory building, hidden in recent years by overgrown trees, is from a business started in 1949 that eventually grew to be the biggest cab service in Prince George’s County with 175 taxis.

The building where the taxi company ran has already been torn down, as contractors make way for Canvas Apartments, a $26 million mixed-use development with 285 apartments and 30,000 square feet of retail space.

Plans for the site show an outdoor walkway with a fountain and cafe seating where the sign now stands.

A relative of one of the founders of the cab company told the Hyattsville Wire in 2018 that she hoped the sign could be salvaged.

A number of area landmarks have also been preserved: The giant arrow at the old B&J Auto Supply lot in Brentwood, the flying saucer at the Hyattsville public library, the Lustine Center auto showroom in the Arts District, and the old ‘liquor, beer, wine’ sign at the new Vigilante in College Park, to name a few.

The older buildings were the site of an effort by local firm Green Owl Design, “Fight the Blight,” in 2017 which added public art made by the community.

This post has been updated.

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