Hampton National Historic Site, in Towson, Maryland, preserves the remains of an estate owned by Maryland’s wealthy Ridgely family for more than 200 years. The centerpiece of the historic estate is a large hilltop mansion built by Colonel Charles Ridgely.
In 1745, Ridgely purchased 1,500 acres (610 hectares) of Maryland land. Ridgely used the land, known as Northhampton, to operate an ironworks. The works supplied cannons, cannonballs, and other metal items to the colonists during the Revolutionary War in America. In 1783, at the end of the war, Ridgely began constructing a mansion on a hill. The house, which would come to be known as Hampton, was finished in 1790, the year of Ridgely’s death. At the time of its completion, the mansion was the largest house in the United States. It was located on property that covered nearly 25,000 acres (10,100 hectares).
Because Ridgely had no male children, the house passed to his nephew Charles Carnan. To inherit the estate, Carnan had to adopt Ridgely’s name. Charles Carnan Ridgely made a fortune operating several businesses from the estate, including enterprises in agriculture, ironworking, quarrying, horse breeding, real estate, shipping, and milling. African American slaves and indentured servants did most of the hard work. Charles Carnan Ridgely was also a successful politician. He served as governor of Maryland from 1816 to 1819.
After Charles Carnan Ridgely’s death, the mansion and property were owned by several generations of the Ridgely family. In 1947, the last of the Ridgely heirs sold the estate to a historic preservation group called the Avalon Foundation. The foundation donated the site to the U.S. Department of the Interior. Hampton was declared a national historic site in 1948 and opened to the public in 1949. The National Park Service now manages the site.
Visitors to the Hampton National Historic Site can tour the Ridgely mansion and walk through the gardens, grounds, and farm area. Rooms in the mansion have been restored to different time periods to highlight the long history of the site. The farm area includes slaves’ quarters and other original structures.
