Hyattsville, Maryland

Hyatsville, Maryland is a suburb of Washington, D.C. located northeast of the city in Prince George's County.

In 1946, when Jim Henson was 10 years old, Henson's father, Paul, an agronomist with the Department of Agriculture, was transferred from the Leland, Mississippi area to Washington, D.C. The Henson family relocated to Hyattsville, MD, the hometown of Jim Henson's mother, Betty. In Hyattsville, Henson developed many of the interests that he would pursue for the rest of his life, including puppetry and television.

Henson attended Northwestern High School in Hyattsville, where he joined the puppetry club to design sets. After graduating on June 14, 1954, Henson continued to live at his parent's Hyattsville residence throughout his college years, moving away to Bethesda, Maryland only after he and Jane Nebel wed in 1959. Henson's original puppet workshop and headquarters of Muppets, Inc. were located in his parents' basement.