Hampton and More

A palace in the wilder-ness, Hampton flaunted elegance as the largest house in the entire United States in 1790. Ranger Alan hosted a private one-hour tour of the mansion for a small group from Annapolis. "You may join us," he welcomed Andy and me. Grey when we arrived, the skies cleared by the time the tour ended.

The National Park Service obtained the Georgian mansion and 60 acres, because in 1948, when the Ridgely family couldn't afford to keep it and the government couldn't afford to buy it, John Ridgely Jr. sold it to the Mellon Foundation for $60,000 with a promise they would donate house and property to the National Park Service in the interest of its outstanding architectural merit and historical significance. He certainly didn't make much, but he didn't lose the house either.

The sedate Georgian mansion, built between 1783 and 1790, elegantly furnished and settled amid gardens and shade trees, showed nearly perfect classic symmetry--three stories connected to smaller wings on either side by hallways or hyphens. The exterior stone, quarried on the property, was stuccoed over and scored to resemble blocks of limestone.

Built as a summer home, the Ridgely house and property, which they called Hampton House, equaled half the area of present-day Baltimore, and it made its owners rich through iron production, agriculture and investments.

Ranger Alan led us through the great hall and showed the parlor, drawing room, dining room and kitchen downstairs. "Most of the furnishings are original," he explained. They were brought from Europe, purchased with grain, iron and timber on the Europe-bound merchant ships owned by Ridgely. His ships, such as the Baltimore Torn, carried raw foodstuffs to England and returned with manufactured goods and luxury items.

During the American Revolution, the Ridgely family aligned with the Patriot cause. Charles Ridgely turned out camp kettles; round shot, ranging from two to eighteen pounds; and cannon of various sizes from his Plantation in the Forrest, the company name of his ironworks. "The colonies were the third largest producer of pig iron in the world," said Ranger Alan.

Then he took the tour group upstairs to see the five adult bedrooms and Eliza's room. The only living daughter of John and Eliza Ridgely in the early 1800's, she wanted a bedroom with the grownups. Her brothers all slept upstairs.

After Ranger Alan's indoor tour, Andy and I drove to the Lower House, home site of the plantation overseer. This house was occupied by the Ridgely family before the mansion was finished in the 1700's and after it was sold in 1948.
In addition, we saw the dairy that utilized flowing stream water to keep milk and butter cold. It was state-of-the-art for its day. Ranger Alan had told us of the cleverness and technological genius of Charles Ridgely.

Here too were slave houses, built of stone so they would look nice from the mansion on the hill. Hampton's slave population at its height numbered more than 300, making it one of the largest slave plantations in Maryland. Indentured servants and paid labor kept the plantation functioning, as well. Inexplicably, Governor John Ridgely freed all his slaves at his death. Maybe it was religious awakening. Maybe he suspected the Civil War was coming and would free the slaves for him. Or maybe he was just a guy way ahead of his time.