Historic structures at Hampton National Historic Site will be restored this summer/NPS file
A major preservation project expected to begin in July will focus on more than a dozen historic structures at Hampton National Historic Site, which preserves and interprets the core of a historic plantation that dates to the 1700s and once encompassed 25,000 acres in western Maryland.
The restoration of the buildings and historic landscape, made possible through funding from the Great American Outdoors Act, is expected to increase the park’s ability to share the complex history of Hampton and the enslaved, indentured, and free people who lived and labored there, a park release said.
According to the National Park Service, “[F]rom the mid-1700s through the mid-1800s, enslaved people labored alongside indentured and free workers to make Hampton prosperous. In the early 1800s, when Hampton was at its greatest extent, the Ridgely family enslaved approximately 350 people.”
Addressing the park’s maintenance and repair needs is essential to preserving Hampton’s historical fabric and expanding its story, the release added. Among the structures proposed to be rehabilitated are the living quarters once used by enslaved families, and the greenhouses, barn, dairy and mansion where they worked. Non-contributing or non-historic elements on the grounds will be removed to provide visitors with a sense of Hampton’s landscape as it appeared in the early 1900s.
The project will restore building exteriors and interiors, incorporate accessibility standards, address structural deficiencies, abate hazardous materials, and modernize essential mechanical, electrical, security, plumbing, and fire detection and suppression systems.
Construction is expected to begin in July and continue through December 2025. An interactive story map with additional detail is available on the park’s website.
Traveler postscript: For more on Hampton National Historic Site, check out this Traveler story from 2012.
