Contact Information

In ancient times, the land was frequented by Susquehannock Indians, who used what became nearby Joppa Road as a trail. The area now known as Hampton was originally part of a land grant given to a relative of Lord Baltimore in 1695. His heirs sold the land on April 2, 1745, to Col. Charles Ridgely (1702–72), a tobacco farmer and trader. In the latter half of the 18th century, the Hampton Mansion was built by the Ridgely family, who used the surrounding land for farming, including apple orchards and the breeding of thoroughbred race horses, along with slave quarters.

Succeeding generations of Ridgelys continued to own the land until 1929, when the Hampton Development Company was formed and the land around the Hampton Mansion was subdivided, creating the modern Hampton community. The Hampton Mansion continued to be owned by the Ridgely family until 1948, when the house and the remaining 43 acres (170,000 m²) of the Ridgely estate were designated a National Historic Site and sold to a preservation trust, eventually to be acquired and now operated by the National Park Service.

In 1958, the Towson United Methodist Church completed construction of its large Georgian-style sanctuary with a 235-foot (72 m) spire on 16 acres (65,000 m²) of land in Hampton. In 2008, the church announced plans to sell a 5-acre (20,000 m²) outparcel of undeveloped, wooded property to a developer for construction of a senior housing complex. A zoning change application was submitted to Baltimore County to increase density to 16 residential units per acre. However, the Hampton Improvement Association, representing neighborhood residents, objected, saying they “oppose zoning changes that would allow higher density residential development and require trees to be knocked down”. The church subsequently dropped plans for the development, saying it wished to remain a good neighbor. The church now has a walking path in the forested area for meditation, open to the public during daylight hours.