Hampton Farm: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Hampton National Historic Site
Beagan C and Brown M. 2025. Hampton Farm: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Hampton National Historic Site. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 300007. National Park Service. Northeast Regional Office/CLI Database
Hampton Farm is part of Hampton National Historic Site (NHS), which is located in Towson, Maryland, just thirteen miles north of downtown Baltimore. The park is situated in a quiet residential neighborhood, immediately to the north of Interstate 695, the Baltimore Beltway. The 62.04-acre park retains the core resources of a once vast 25,000-acre estate amassed and operated by the Ridgely family for over 200 years. The Hampton landscape is comprised of two distinct components: the 48.02-acre Mansion landscape, located to the south of Hampton Lane, and the 14.02-acre Farm landscape, located to the north. Together, they depict the integration of a once sprawling domestic, agricultural, commercial, and industrial enterprise, and remain as tangible vestiges of the political, economic, and social changes that shaped the nation from 1745 to 1948. The National Park Service acquired the Mansion property in 1947, but did not assume direct management of it until 1979. The Farm property was acquired in 1980. The Hampton Farm property includes the 18th century Farm House, around which are outbuildings that include several slave quarters, an ash house, long house/granary, dairy, mule barn, and foundations of a corn crib. Roads and paths connect these features, which are set within lawns and meadows dotted with shade trees. Near the center of the triangular-shaped site is the Farm House Cluster, situated around a slight rise in topography and a natural rock outcropping, and directly visible from the adjacent Hampton Mansion property to the south. In the western portion of the site is the West Farm Field, which is planted with annual ryegrass, oats, and/or corn to evoke its historic agricultural character. In the eastern portion, a stream emanates from a spring directly below the dairy and flows north to a wetland. Not only is it a significant resource for visitors from across the nation and globe, Hampton NHS is well visited by Towson schools, residents, and neighbors. With its long history, park resources continue to tell many different stories that resonate with a diversity of visitors, revealing the daily activities of the Ridgely family, laborers, and enslaved persons, and illustrating18th and 19th century history and design. Vibrant interpretive, youth education, and volunteer programs and partnerships engage the public to ensure that the Hampton landscape will be preserved and enjoyed for many generations to come.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Beagan, Chris; Brown, Margie
- Date of Issue
- 2025
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- HAMP
- Keywords
- Agriculture, Archeology-Historic-Non-Aboriginal, Architecture, Colonial Traditions In The New World, Conservation, Creating Social Institutions and Movements, Designed Landscape, Developing the American Economy, Domesticity And Family Life, Early Federal Period 1789-1800, Ethnic Heritage-Black, Expressing Cultural Values, Extraction or Mining Industries, Farm (Plantation), Functional Landscape-Other, Georgian (1730-1780), Hampton, Hampton Farm, Hampton National Historic Site, Hampton Plantation, Historic Preservation, Industry, Interpretive Landscape, Iron And Ferro Alloys, Landscape Architecture, Livestock, Museum (Exhibition Hall)-Other, Northampton, Plantation Agriculture, Political and Military Affairs 1783-1860, Politics – Government, Shaping the Political Landscape, Slavery And Plantation Life, Social History, The Federal Government Enters The Movement, Transforming the Environment, Vernacular Landscape, Ways of Life