Hampden, Baltimore facts for kids

Hampden Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Hampden commercial district at 36th and Roland Ave.
Location in Baltimore Show map of Baltimore Location in Maryland Show map of Maryland Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Location	Roughly bounded by Jones Falls, W. 40th St. and Wyman Park, Baltimore, Maryland
Area	400 acres (160 ha)
Architectural style	Federal, Greek Revival, et al.
NRHP reference No.	04001405
Added to NRHP	December 29, 2004

Hampden is a lively neighborhood in northern Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It's shaped like a triangle and is bordered by Wyman Park to the east. To the north, you'll find Roland Park at 40th and 41st Street. The Jones Falls Expressway is to the west, and the Remington neighborhood is to the south. The Homewood campus of Johns Hopkins University is also very close by.

Discovering Hampden's Past

Hampden got its name from an English politician named John Hampden. It started as a place for workers who built and worked in the mills along the Jones Falls river. The first residents moved in before Hampden became part of Baltimore City in 1889. Many people came here from the Appalachian region, like Kentucky, West Virginia, and western Pennsylvania. They came because there were lots of jobs in the mills. This made Hampden a neighborhood mostly of white, working-class families for many years.

How Hampden Changed Over Time

In the early 1990s, artists and other people started to discover Hampden. They liked its location, being close to Johns Hopkins and downtown Baltimore. Many new residents were drawn to the area because of the Mill Centre, a place with artist studios and offices. It's located in the southern part of Hampden.

Over the last ten years, house prices in Hampden have gone up a lot. The main shopping area, known as The Avenue on West 36th Street, has changed too. Now you can find trendy boutiques, restaurants, art galleries, and specialty shops. Before, many of these storefronts were empty or needed repairs. The Woodberry station for the Baltimore Light Rail system is just across the Jones Falls Expressway. It's easy to walk to from many parts of the neighborhood. A new, fancy building project called Clipper Mill has also brought more businesses to the area.

Fun and Festivals in Hampden

Baltimore has really started to celebrate Hampden's unique traditions. The neighborhood is famous for its annual "Hon Festival," also called HonFest. The name comes from "Hon," a friendly way people in Baltimore say "honey."

The HonFest Celebration

At HonFest, people tease their hair into huge beehive hairdos like those from the 1960s. The festival also has a contest to find the best "Bawlmerese" accent. This is Baltimore's special way of speaking. Before HonFest, the annual celebration was called the "May Fair" and lasted a whole week in early May.

Christmas decorations on 34th Street block in Hampden

The Miracle on 34th Street

Every year, Hampden's 34th Street celebrates Christmas with the "Miracle on 34th Street." Homeowners on both sides of the street decorate their houses with thousands of lights and Christmas decorations. People come from all over the world to see this amazing sight. There's also a house on Roland Avenue, at 3550, that has an amazing "Nightmare Before Christmas" display. Its lights are even synchronized to music! This house is known as "The Halloween House" because its decorations are up all year.

Hampden in Movies and Books

Hampden became well-known across the country in 1998. That's when Baltimore filmmaker John Waters filmed his movie Pecker there. The movie starred Hollywood actors like Edward Furlong, Christina Ricci, Martha Plimpton, and Lili Taylor. It showed a fun, fictional look at Hampden and its young residents.

Also, the writer Philipp Meyer grew up on Hampden's 36th Street in the 1970s and 1980s. His novel American Rust was greatly inspired by his childhood in Hampden.

Homes and Buildings in Hampden

Row houses on Roland Avenue

Since Hampden was originally a place with many mills and factories, most of its first buildings were homes for workers. These were small, two-story row houses made of brick or stone. Larger stone houses were built for managers. You can also find more modern homes built around the edges of Hampden. In the 1900s, apartment buildings were built near Roland Avenue and north of Hampden.

There aren't many empty spaces left to build new homes in Hampden. This is one reason why housing costs have gone up. Many older homes are being fixed up and made new again. A very large new building project started in late 2013 in North Hampden. It's at the site of the old Rotunda Shopping Center. This big project caused some discussion in the neighborhood, mostly about traffic and parking. It opened in 2015 with nearly 400 new apartments and many businesses, including a fancy movie theater.

Important Places and Schools

Some well-known places in Hampden include a branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Burgee Hess Funeral Home, St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, St. Luke's Lutheran Church, and Hampden School #55.

Getting Around Hampden

The Maryland Transit Administration helps people get around Hampden. You can use the Baltimore Light Rail at Woodberry Station on Union Avenue. There are also bus routes 21, 22, and 94 that serve the neighborhood.

Images for kids

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  The "Halloween House" which has synchronized lights during the Christmas season.