This list of facts about Hampton Park in Charleston, SC, was compiled by neighborhood resident Kevin Eberle and posted on Facebook on May 31, 2012, by Marshall Walker. I'm reposting them here to make this valuable community knowledge easier to find via Web search later, once the original post inevitably disappears into the proprietary memory-hole that is Facebook... dc
On the subject of Hampton Park, did you know:
• That it was originally the “front yard” of a large plantation called “The Grove” which spread from Rutledge Ave. to the Ashley River and had a large, masonry house on the bluff overlooking the river with an avenue of trees in both directions, a large fish pond on one side, and an orange grove (hence, Grove St.)?
• That the park area was used as a staging area during the Siege of Charleston of 1780, the worst defeat of the colonists during the Revolutionary War?
• That the plantation was destroyed during the Revolutionary War, and the land was divided up for sale since the couple who lived there had had no children?
• That the South Carolina Jockey Club bought a large portion of the land and operated the Washington Race Course there for almost 80 years, during which time it was the most important social week of the year each February?
• That they had a notable Grand Stand built by Reichardt located about where Tenth Ave. enters the park?
• That during the other eleven months of the year, several duels were fought on the pastureland including one in 1862 between the commander of the forces at Fort Sumter and his rival?
• That during the Civil War, the park was used as a prisoner of war camp for Union soldiers who were being moved from Andersonville, Georgia to a new facility being built in Florence, SC?
• That more than 200 of them died because of bad conditions and were buried in unmarked graves about where the parking lot on the Wagoner Terrace side of the park is today?
• That after the conclusion of the war, black leaders in Charleston built a wooden fence around the graveyard and erected a sign dedicating it to the “Martyrs of the Race Course”?
• That the next day, approximately 9,000 freed black Charlestonians held an impromptu celebration at the site which included military parades by the famous Massachusetts 54th?
• That that celebration became an annual event and is generally regarded as the first Memorial Day ever celebrated in America?
• That the South Carolina Jockey Club could never get the race course up and running successfully again and staged the last race there in 1877, after which they rented the land out as a small farm?
• That after the Club folded, they donated the land to the Charleston Library Society?
• That in 1901, several businessmen decided to hold a regional trade exposition in Charleston and bought the land from the Charleston Library Society for part of the grounds?
• That the Southeastern Trade Exposition was a huge failure but included monumental buildings covering the entire park and most of Wagoner Terrace?
• That Pres. Teddy Roosevelt visited the Expo in 1902?
• That the actual Liberty Bell was brought to Charleston and displayed in the Expo?
• That when the Expo closed, the City bought the land to make a large park outside the dense urban area of town? The City was building a similarly sized park called Chicora Park, but had to sell that land to the U.S. Navy in 1901 for the Navy Base. The city used the funds from the sale of that land to buy the Exposition land.
• That the park was named in honor of Gen. Wade Hampton, whose last public appearance had been at the Exposition in 1901 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the University of South Carolina?
• That the Parks Department building on Mary Murray Blvd. is the only remaining original structure in the park from the Expo?
• That Mary Murray Blvd. is named for the wife of Andrew Buist Murray, the man who gave the money to have it paved and for whom Murray Blvd. is named?
• That the bandstand was built for the Exposition, but it has been moved twice in its history and totally rebuilt?
• That the elaborate statues from the grounds of the Expo were bought by the city and installed in Hampton Park but no one has seen them since 1910 and there is no record of what happened to them?
• That the capstan of the USS Maine was donated to Charleston and installed on the western end of the park before being removed from “such an obscure spot” and installed at the Battery instead? (Incidentally, while a capstan is an odd souvenir, we did better than the US Naval Academy Museum which was given a light bulb and lampshade from the wreck.)
• That the City hired the Olmsted Brothers landscaping firm in Brookline, Massachusetts to design the park?
• That their plans centered on the still-existing Sunken Gardens? The Sunken Gardens were an island in the middle of a small decorative lake which had extensive flowerbeds and a fountain on it and which was connected to the surrounding park by four bridges?
• That the park originally included the Citadel campus as well and that there were unpaved roads through it as specified by the Olmsted Bros. plan to take advantage of the view of the Ashley River?
• That that there was a telegraph station built there in 1905?
• That the Boston Bean Eaters (today known as the Atlanta Braves) held two weeks of spring training in the park in 1905, and lost to the Detroit Tigers who came to Charleston for a match-up?
• That in 1917, the City leased two acres to the 18th Infantry for an encampment to prepare for World War I service?
• That in 1918, the portion of the Citadel campus known as “Indian Hill” (the high point behind the mess hall), had to have some trees relocated because the area was going to be used as an aviation field?
• That Mr. Archer Huntington donated $1000 and a collection of exotic animals from his personal collection at Brookgreen Gardens to get a zoo started in 1932?
• That the old trolley station in the park was converted into an indoor aviary holding more than 800 birds?
• That the City was asked in 1937 to sell off what is today McMahon Park so that Rivers Middle School could be built there, but the City rejected the idea since selling off park land is a bad policy?
• That the first lion in the zoo was donated to the City in 1955 from a man who had been keeping it as a pet in his house in Dorchester Terrace?
• That the zoo included lions, bears, and native species in a series of big chain link cages located between the current bandstand and the Cleveland St. entrance?
• That the park taking on a "shabby" appearance by 1965?
• That there was once a one-story gardener’s house on the property which the city demolished when it was no longer used?
• That the Defenders of Wildlife told the City that the zoo was in such bad condition by 1972 that it was in violation of new federal regulations about animal welfare?
• That when the City started considering its options for the threadbare zoo in 1972, it hired yet-unknown but future notable landscape architect Robert Chesnut to come up with the plans while he was still a senior at the University of Georgia's School of Environmental Design? He recommended shifting away from exotic animals and redesigning the facility as a petting zoo with an olde-timey barn as its centerpiece.
• That the options for the park were all too expensive, and the City decided to close the whole thing. One member of the Parks Commission said, "Hampton Park zoo as we know it is dead. Let's give it a decent burial."
• That, although the park was in physical decline, it was still actually a very popular hangout. According to one reporter's experience in 1976 who ventured into the park on a Sunday afternoon, he found "a solitary elderly man walk[ing] slowly through the milling mass of more than 2,000 young people occupying the once serenely peaceful gardens of Hampton Park. His shoulders sagged despondently as he gazed successively on winebibbers among the rose bushes, romanticizers 'making out' in the shade of the oleanders and clustered knots of avid listeners around portable radio sets blaring out 'soul' music. He winced as the sultry breeze brought occasional whiffs of the acrid aroma of 'grass' and his aging body successfully dodged the touchdown efforts of youthful footballers . . . ." He went on to report on "[t]he constantly moving and changing press of people in the park moved backwards and forwards, sideways and sometimes upwards and downwards in a frenzy of unleashed energies that seemed incompatible with the sylvan serenity of the ancient trees surrounding the grassy areas."
• That in 1977, when Hampton Park was really on its way into the gutter, the City received a proposal from the Citadel to buy 10 acres of the 50 acre park to construct a 3000 seat auditorium, amphitheatre, and graduate studies building which would have required rerouting Tenth Ave. into Parkwood Ave. in a plan which Gen. Grimsley said would be good for the park and that "everyone would win"?
• That by 1979, the park had become a very popular meeting place for local youths who staged a series of unauthorized disco concerts? Before the City adopted a rule that there would be no music in the park on Sundays, the crowds had grown during the spring of 1979 from 5,000 to 14,000 people on Sundays. The City locked the power box at the bandstand, but the organizers of the unofficial event brought in electrical generators. By comparison, the Riverdogs Stadium holds only 6,000 people!
• That City Councilman Robert Ford decried the vote to ban music on Sundays because he observed that it was such a popular meeting spot for black youths that violence might erupt if the ban was upheld and that the City was "sitting on a time bomb"?
• That the city ended up hiring Miller Wihring Lee, Inc. to design a new look for the park after having received more than $600,000 in stimulus funds for urban park renewal in 1980?
• That the plans called for closing the Ashley Ave. entrance to the park, but the neighborhood complained about that, so it was cut?
• That the lagoon was reworked in 1983? The island in the park was pared down to just the small speck of land that today has the ducks on it. The old concrete bridges were removed and a single bridge from one side to the other was built instead.
• That Charleston architect Sandy Logan designed the snack stand in a pared down Victorian style in 1984? It was originally operated by Linda’s Hotdogs and got a good review by the newspaper!
• That Piccolo Spoleto and MOJA Festivals both now conclude in the park every year?
• That during the other eleven months of the year, several duels were fought on the pastureland including one in 1862 between the commander of the forces at Fort Sumter and his rival?
• That during the Civil War, the park was used as a prisoner of war camp for Union soldiers who were being moved from Andersonville, Georgia to a new facility being built in Florence, SC?
• That more than 200 of them died because of bad conditions and were buried in unmarked graves about where the parking lot on the Wagoner Terrace side of the park is today?
• That after the conclusion of the war, black leaders in Charleston built a wooden fence around the graveyard and erected a sign dedicating it to the “Martyrs of the Race Course”?
• That the next day, approximately 9,000 freed black Charlestonians held an impromptu celebration at the site which included military parades by the famous Massachusetts 54th?
• That that celebration became an annual event and is generally regarded as the first Memorial Day ever celebrated in America?
• That the South Carolina Jockey Club could never get the race course up and running successfully again and staged the last race there in 1877, after which they rented the land out as a small farm?
• That after the Club folded, they donated the land to the Charleston Library Society?
• That in 1901, several businessmen decided to hold a regional trade exposition in Charleston and bought the land from the Charleston Library Society for part of the grounds?
• That the Southeastern Trade Exposition was a huge failure but included monumental buildings covering the entire park and most of Wagoner Terrace?
• That Pres. Teddy Roosevelt visited the Expo in 1902?
• That the actual Liberty Bell was brought to Charleston and displayed in the Expo?
• That when the Expo closed, the City bought the land to make a large park outside the dense urban area of town? The City was building a similarly sized park called Chicora Park, but had to sell that land to the U.S. Navy in 1901 for the Navy Base. The city used the funds from the sale of that land to buy the Exposition land.
• That the park was named in honor of Gen. Wade Hampton, whose last public appearance had been at the Exposition in 1901 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the University of South Carolina?
• That the Parks Department building on Mary Murray Blvd. is the only remaining original structure in the park from the Expo?
• That Mary Murray Blvd. is named for the wife of Andrew Buist Murray, the man who gave the money to have it paved and for whom Murray Blvd. is named?
• That the bandstand was built for the Exposition, but it has been moved twice in its history and totally rebuilt?
• That the elaborate statues from the grounds of the Expo were bought by the city and installed in Hampton Park but no one has seen them since 1910 and there is no record of what happened to them?
• That the capstan of the USS Maine was donated to Charleston and installed on the western end of the park before being removed from “such an obscure spot” and installed at the Battery instead? (Incidentally, while a capstan is an odd souvenir, we did better than the US Naval Academy Museum which was given a light bulb and lampshade from the wreck.)
• That the City hired the Olmsted Brothers landscaping firm in Brookline, Massachusetts to design the park?
• That their plans centered on the still-existing Sunken Gardens? The Sunken Gardens were an island in the middle of a small decorative lake which had extensive flowerbeds and a fountain on it and which was connected to the surrounding park by four bridges?
• That the park originally included the Citadel campus as well and that there were unpaved roads through it as specified by the Olmsted Bros. plan to take advantage of the view of the Ashley River?
• That that there was a telegraph station built there in 1905?
• That the Boston Bean Eaters (today known as the Atlanta Braves) held two weeks of spring training in the park in 1905, and lost to the Detroit Tigers who came to Charleston for a match-up?
• That in 1917, the City leased two acres to the 18th Infantry for an encampment to prepare for World War I service?
• That in 1918, the portion of the Citadel campus known as “Indian Hill” (the high point behind the mess hall), had to have some trees relocated because the area was going to be used as an aviation field?
• That Mr. Archer Huntington donated $1000 and a collection of exotic animals from his personal collection at Brookgreen Gardens to get a zoo started in 1932?
• That the old trolley station in the park was converted into an indoor aviary holding more than 800 birds?
• That the City was asked in 1937 to sell off what is today McMahon Park so that Rivers Middle School could be built there, but the City rejected the idea since selling off park land is a bad policy?
• That the first lion in the zoo was donated to the City in 1955 from a man who had been keeping it as a pet in his house in Dorchester Terrace?
• That the zoo included lions, bears, and native species in a series of big chain link cages located between the current bandstand and the Cleveland St. entrance?
• That the park taking on a "shabby" appearance by 1965?
• That there was once a one-story gardener’s house on the property which the city demolished when it was no longer used?
• That the Defenders of Wildlife told the City that the zoo was in such bad condition by 1972 that it was in violation of new federal regulations about animal welfare?
• That when the City started considering its options for the threadbare zoo in 1972, it hired yet-unknown but future notable landscape architect Robert Chesnut to come up with the plans while he was still a senior at the University of Georgia's School of Environmental Design? He recommended shifting away from exotic animals and redesigning the facility as a petting zoo with an olde-timey barn as its centerpiece.
• That the options for the park were all too expensive, and the City decided to close the whole thing. One member of the Parks Commission said, "Hampton Park zoo as we know it is dead. Let's give it a decent burial."
• That, although the park was in physical decline, it was still actually a very popular hangout. According to one reporter's experience in 1976 who ventured into the park on a Sunday afternoon, he found "a solitary elderly man walk[ing] slowly through the milling mass of more than 2,000 young people occupying the once serenely peaceful gardens of Hampton Park. His shoulders sagged despondently as he gazed successively on winebibbers among the rose bushes, romanticizers 'making out' in the shade of the oleanders and clustered knots of avid listeners around portable radio sets blaring out 'soul' music. He winced as the sultry breeze brought occasional whiffs of the acrid aroma of 'grass' and his aging body successfully dodged the touchdown efforts of youthful footballers . . . ." He went on to report on "[t]he constantly moving and changing press of people in the park moved backwards and forwards, sideways and sometimes upwards and downwards in a frenzy of unleashed energies that seemed incompatible with the sylvan serenity of the ancient trees surrounding the grassy areas."
• That in 1977, when Hampton Park was really on its way into the gutter, the City received a proposal from the Citadel to buy 10 acres of the 50 acre park to construct a 3000 seat auditorium, amphitheatre, and graduate studies building which would have required rerouting Tenth Ave. into Parkwood Ave. in a plan which Gen. Grimsley said would be good for the park and that "everyone would win"?
• That by 1979, the park had become a very popular meeting place for local youths who staged a series of unauthorized disco concerts? Before the City adopted a rule that there would be no music in the park on Sundays, the crowds had grown during the spring of 1979 from 5,000 to 14,000 people on Sundays. The City locked the power box at the bandstand, but the organizers of the unofficial event brought in electrical generators. By comparison, the Riverdogs Stadium holds only 6,000 people!
• That City Councilman Robert Ford decried the vote to ban music on Sundays because he observed that it was such a popular meeting spot for black youths that violence might erupt if the ban was upheld and that the City was "sitting on a time bomb"?
• That the city ended up hiring Miller Wihring Lee, Inc. to design a new look for the park after having received more than $600,000 in stimulus funds for urban park renewal in 1980?
• That the plans called for closing the Ashley Ave. entrance to the park, but the neighborhood complained about that, so it was cut?
• That the lagoon was reworked in 1983? The island in the park was pared down to just the small speck of land that today has the ducks on it. The old concrete bridges were removed and a single bridge from one side to the other was built instead.
• That Charleston architect Sandy Logan designed the snack stand in a pared down Victorian style in 1984? It was originally operated by Linda’s Hotdogs and got a good review by the newspaper!
• That Piccolo Spoleto and MOJA Festivals both now conclude in the park every year?
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