Hampton National Historic Site facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hampton National Historic Site |
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 Hampton National Historic Site
Location in Maryland
Hampton National Historic Site
Location in the United States
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| Location | Baltimore County, Maryland, USA |
| Nearest city | Baltimore, Maryland |
| Area | 62.04 acres (25.11 ha) |
| Established | June 22, 1948 |
| Visitors | 35,000 (in 2008) |
| Governing body | National Park Service |
| Website | Hampton National Historic Site |
The Hampton National Historic Site is a special place located north of Towson in Baltimore County, Maryland, USA. It protects a small part of a huge estate from the 1700s. This site includes a grand Georgian style mansion, beautiful gardens, and even the original stone buildings where enslaved people lived.
The Ridgely family owned this estate for seven generations, from 1745 to 1948. The main house, called the Hampton Mansion, was the largest private home in America when it was finished in 1790. Today, it's seen as one of the best examples of Georgian architecture in the U.S. The furniture inside, along with the preserved slave quarters and other buildings, helps us understand what life was like for wealthy landowners in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
In 1948, Hampton was the very first place chosen as a National Historic Site by the U.S. National Park Service. It was picked because of its amazing architecture. In the 1800s, the gardens were famous for their fancy designs called parterres. These gardens have been restored to look like they did in the 1820s. Some trees on the property are even more than 200 years old! Besides the mansion and gardens, visitors can also see the overseer's house and the slave quarters. Hampton is one of the few plantations where the original slave quarters still exist today.
Contents
Exploring Hampton's Past
How Hampton Began
The land where Hampton now stands was first given to Col. Henry Darnall in 1695. He was related to Lord Baltimore. In 1745, his family sold the land to Col. Charles Ridgely. He was a tobacco farmer and trader. The sale papers mentioned that the property already had houses, tobacco barns, stables, gardens, and orchards.
By the late 1750s, Hampton had grown to more than 10,000 acres. It even had an ironworks, which is a place where iron is made.
Growing the Estate
Col. Charles Ridgely's son, Capt. Charles Ridgely, took over and made the family business much bigger. He added gristmills (for grinding grain), apple orchards, and stone quarries. During the American Revolutionary War, the ironworks at Hampton made cannons and ammunition for the American army. This brought a lot of money to the Ridgely family.
In 1783, Capt. Ridgely started building the main house, the Hampton Mansion. He said he was inspired by Castle Howard in England. When it was finished in 1790, the Hampton Mansion was the biggest private home in the United States.
New Owners and Grand Gardens
Capt. Ridgely died in 1790. His nephew, Charles Carnan Ridgely, became the second owner of Hampton. In 1799, he had long pipes installed to bring water from a nearby spring to the mansion and its gardens. He worked hard to develop the gardens. Famous artists were hired to design beautiful, geometric gardens, which were planted between 1799 and 1801.
Charles Carnan Ridgely loved horses. He started raising Thoroughbred horses at Hampton and even had a racetrack. One of his racehorses, Post Boy, won a special cup at the Washington City Jockey Club.
Hampton's Golden Age
Under Charles Carnan Ridgely, Hampton reached its largest size of 25,000 acres in the 1820s. The mansion looked out over a huge estate that included orchards, ironworks, coal mines, marble quarries, mills, and other businesses. The large farm produced corn, beef, dairy products, hogs, and horses.
More than 300 enslaved people worked on the farm and in the mansion. This made Hampton one of Maryland's largest slaveholding estates. The gardens had six parterres (fancy garden beds) on three levels, filled with roses, peonies, and other seasonal flowers. In 1820, a special building called an orangery was built to grow citrus trees.
Charles Carnan Ridgely often hosted important guests in the mansion's large Great Hall. These guests included Charles Carroll of Carrollton, who signed the Declaration of Independence, and the Revolutionary War general, the Marquis de Lafayette. Charles Carnan also served as governor of Maryland from 1816 to 1819. When Governor Ridgely died in 1829, he freed the enslaved people at Hampton in his will.
Changes and New Additions
After Governor Ridgely's death, the Hampton estate was divided among his heirs. His son, John Carnan Ridgely (1790–1867), inherited the mansion and 4,500 acres. The ironworks closed, and the family's money then came mostly from farming, investments, and their stone quarries. John Carnan added modern features like plumbing, heating, and gas lighting to the mansion.
John's wife, Eliza Ridgely (1803–1867), bought many artworks and furnishings for the mansion. She was a famous gardener and created even larger and more beautiful gardens. She grew many different flowers and shrubs in the estate's greenhouses. About 60 enslaved people, bought by John Carnan Ridgely, cared for these gardens.
By the mid-1800s, Hampton had one of the biggest collections of citrus trees in the U.S. Eliza Ridgely also brought back many exotic trees and plants from her travels in Europe and Asia. In warm weather, the potted citrus plants were placed around the terraced gardens. In winter, they were moved into the heated orangery. In 1859, Hampton was so famous for its grand style that a book about landscaping said it was "more grandeur than any other place in America."
The Civil War Era
In January 1861, after Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States, Charles Ridgely (John and Eliza Ridgely's son) formed a group called the Baltimore County Horse Guards at Hampton. This group supported the Confederate side. One of his cavalrymen, Lieut. John Merryman, was later arrested by the Union Army.
Even though Maryland was a border state and not part of the Emancipation Proclamation, the state of Maryland ended slavery in 1864. With the end of slavery, Hampton began to face challenges. Many former enslaved people continued to work at Hampton as paid servants, but the Ridgelys had to hire other workers for the farm.
When John and Eliza died in 1867, their son Charles became the next owner. After Charles died in 1872, the mansion and the remaining 1,000 acres were inherited by Captain John Ridgely (1851–1938). Important guests, including Theodore Roosevelt, continued to visit Hampton and enjoy its grounds.
Hampton in the 20th Century
As nearby Baltimore grew and farming became less profitable, the Ridgely family found it harder to keep up the property. Five of the six fancy garden beds were removed and replaced with grass. The family made some money by producing cider from their apple orchards and running a dairy farm.
In 1929, Capt. John Ridgely and his son, John Ridgely Jr., created a company to sell some of the remaining land. In 1938, John Ridgely Jr. (1882–1959) became the sixth generation of the family to own Hampton. His company sold large parts of the estate for new housing developments in the 1930s and 1940s. This area is now known as the Hampton residential community.
The Hampton Mansion stayed in the Ridgely family until 1948. That year, John Ridgely Jr. moved to the smaller Farm House on the property. The mansion was then bought by the Avalon Foundation, which is now part of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The last Ridgely family member to live in the mansion was John Ridgely III (1911–1990), who lived there with his wife until they joined the Army during World War II.
Becoming a National Historic Site
The Hampton Mansion and the remaining 43 acres of the Ridgely estate were named a National Historic Site by the Secretary of the Interior on June 22, 1948. It was the first site chosen for its historical importance and "outstanding merit as an architectural monument."
Hampton Mansion opened to the public in May 1949. Work also began in 1949 to restore four of the site's six 19th-century gardens. In October 1966, Hampton was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In October 1979, the National Park Service (NPS) took over the management of the estate. The NPS later bought more land with original Ridgely buildings, bringing the park to its current size of 62.04 acres.
In 1998, the NPS explained its goal for the historic site: to protect the cultural resources of this unique estate. It shows how national events and social changes affected the family and workers who lived and worked there in the 1700s and 1800s.
Modern Updates and Restoration
In 2000, the NPS began studying the mansion's security, safety, electrical systems, and environmental conditions. They found important needs, like a lack of fire safety systems and climate control. Experts said that controlling the temperature and humidity inside the mansion was "urgent" to protect the old furnishings and paintings. The NPS made plans in 2004 to install a modern heating and cooling system (HVAC) and a hidden fire sprinkler system. This would protect the historic mansion and its valuable contents from fire.
From January 2005, the mansion closed for almost three years for this big restoration project. During the 2005–2007 renovations, the drawing room and two bedrooms were completely redone. Experts researched the drawing room's furnishings carefully to make it look exactly like it did between 1830 and 1860. The fancy dome (cupola) on top of the mansion was also restored. The ball on top of the cupola was even refinished in gold leaf. The Hampton Mansion reopened to the public on November 30, 2007.
The chief ranger for the Hampton National Historic Site said the $3 million renovations made the mansion look better than ever. In 2007, "Preservation Maryland" gave Hampton National Historic Site an award for restoring the mansion's rooms accurately. They also praised how the fire safety and climate control systems were installed without being noticeable.
Visiting Hampton National Historic Site
The remaining 62.04-acre estate is now managed by the National Park Service. It is open to the public and has free parking, a gift shop, and is wheelchair accessible at the mansion. Visitors can take a guided tour of the mansion. Inside, you can see the original furniture owned by the Ridgelys, their collection of oil paintings, silverware, and ceramics. There are about 7,000 objects in total!
Besides the mansion, visitors can also see nine original buildings from the 1700s to mid-1800s:
- Farm House – This house is north of the mansion, next to the slave quarters. Part of it might even be older than when the Ridgelys bought the property in 1745. The Ridgely family lived here while the mansion was being built. Later, it was where the farm manager lived. John Ridgely Jr. and his wife lived here after they left the mansion in 1948.
- Slave quarters – These are two preserved stone buildings next to the Farm House. They now have exhibits that explain what life was like for enslaved people at Hampton. The stone for these buildings came from the Ridgelys' own stone quarry. In 2007, the Associated Press noted the big difference between the simple slave quarters and the beautifully decorated mansion. You can see an old newspaper ad from Charles Carnan Ridgely offering a reward for a runaway enslaved person. There's also a Christmas gift list from 1841 to 1854 for the children of enslaved people.
- Dairy – This stone building was built before 1800.
- Mule barn – This stone barn was built around 1845.
- Long house/granary
- Ash house, wooden log building, and dovecote
You can take self-guided tours of the grounds during opening hours. This includes the farm, formal garden, family cemetery, and two stone stables for the Ridgely family's thoroughbred horses. You can also see a replica of the original orangery (built in 1824). The original wooden orangery burned down in 1926, but a new one was built on the old foundations in 1976. A 34-foot deep underground icehouse is visible near the mansion and is open to visitors.
Some of the trees planted by the Ridgelys in the 1820s are still there! These include a large tulip tree, a European Beech, and Catalpas. A special Cedar of Lebanon tree, brought as a tiny plant from the Middle East by Eliza Ridgely, is now one of the largest in the U.S.
Many special events happen throughout the year. These include chamber music concerts and harpsichord performances in the mansion's Great Hall. You can also see milking demonstrations at the dairy by people in costumes, carriage rides, hay harvesting, corn harvesting, blacksmithing demonstrations, and even jousting reenactments. The Baltimore Sun reported that Hampton had 35,000 visitors in 2008.
The local community helps support the site's preservation through a group called "Historic Hampton." They work with the National Park Service to make sure the historical details are correct and to offer fun activities. In May 2008, the National Park Service announced a $195,000 grant. Historic Hampton had to raise the same amount to match it, for more restoration work inside the mansion. The National Park Service also keeps a collection of Ridgely family papers from 1750 to 1990 for researchers.
Images for kids
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Hampton National Historic Site
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Charles Carnan Ridgely, Hampton's second master
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Lady with a Harp: Eliza Ridgely by Thomas Sully, 1818.
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Hampton Mansion in 1861
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Terraced gardens in 1872
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The Farm House, where John Ridgely Jr. moved in 1948
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Mansion bedroom with original furnishings
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Map of Hampton National Historic Site
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The Farm House (left) and slave quarters (right) in 2007
