Fresh Perspective (student guest post): A History of Hampton Park
- Kendall John
- Aug 4
- 8 min read
Guest post researched and written by Records Management 2025 Summer Intern Meghan Zimmerman
Today we know Hampton Park as an expansive urban greenspace with lush public gardens and multipurpose trails located in the heart of a residential district. The largest public green space in the City of Charleston, Hampton Park features a rich history beyond its lagoon and gardens. From its origins as a plantation, to its horse racing years, to functioning as a Civil War prison camp, to hosting one of the nation’s first Memorial Day ceremonies, the land where the parks sits has served a multitude of purposes.
By 1769, horticulturalist John Gibbes had developed the land encompassing Hampton Park and surrounding acreage as his plantation, Orange Grove. Much of his property was destroyed by the British during the American Revolution, and following his death in 1791, it was subdivided and sold. The first notable recreational use of this land where Hampton Park currently sits was a horse race course. In 1791, the land was purchased by the South Carolina Jockey Club, made up of a group of wealthy South Carolina planters who raced horses for sport. The club, the first of its kind in the country, named the race course after President George Washington, and hosted its first race on February 15th, 1792.[1] Thereafter, the course became a symbol of Charleston society during the Antebellum period and was considered one of the finest in the Southern United States. Each year in February, the Jockey Club would host “Race Week,” a popular event in Charleston that included food vendors, horse betting, and social balls.[2]
It should be noted that most jockeys, the individuals who raced the horses, were enslaved. The horse owners relied on the enslaved jockeys to conduct the labor that goes into caring for and raising a successful racing horse.
While it was primarily used for racing horses, the Washington Race Course served a other purposes during this time. When horses and their jockeys were not present, the track was sometimes utilized as a dueling ground or leased to farmers, allowing a spot for their livestock to graze. [3]
At the start of the Civil War, the Jockey Club ceased operation at the Washington Race Course. Instead, the land was utilized by the Confederacy as a prisoner-of-war camp for Union soldiers. 257 Union soldiers died in the camp and were placed in an unmarked mass grave.[4] Following the war, when Federal troops occupied Charleston, those who died in the war camp were respectfully reburied by free and formerly enslaved Black men in a new cemetery site with an archway at the entrance that read “Martyrs of the Racecourse.” [5]
On May 1st, 1865, a parade was held on the racetrack with an estimated 10,000 people, mostly African Americans and some white missionaries, who came to honor those who had sacrificed their lives in the name of freedom. According to reports by The New York Tribune and The Charleston Courier, those present included roughly 3,000 young children carrying bouquets and singing “John Brown’s Body.” This event is considered to be the first Memorial Day ceremony.[6] The bodies of the fallen soldiers were again exhumed in 1871 and reburied with honor at military cemeteries in Florence and Beaufort, South Carolina.[7]
Although the racecourse reopened in 1875, it lost much of its social influence throughout the 1880s.[8] A significant number of the wealthy elites, who had utilized the land to breed and race horses, had left Charleston following the Civil War. The Jockey Club hosted its last race week in 1882 and later disbanded in 1899, at which time the organization donated the Washington Race Course land to the Charleston Library Society for its endowment. [9]
The City of Charleston faced both economic and environmental hardships through the latter years of the 19th century, with impacts felt from the the Great Fire of 1861, the 1886 Earthquake, the Panics of 1873 and 1893, and several hurricanes. In an attempt to bolster the economy of Charleston after Reconstruction and to display novel technology, City leaders hosted the 1901-1902 South Carolina Inter-State and West Indian Exposition as a means to improve trade and increase tourism. The 250-acre exposition was constructed on land the City leased from the Library Society and Frederick W. Wagener (brother of former Mayor J.A. Wagener), who provided land from the Lowndes Grove Plantation. Construction for the exhibition began in 1900, and the fair opened its doors on December 1st, 1901. Due to the off-white color of the exposition's buildings, it acquired the name “The Ivory City.” [10]
Meant to stimulate Charleston’s economy, the South Carolina Inter-State and West Indian Exposition seemed to have the opposite effect. The event cost the city roughly $1.25 million, while income from the event was a mere $313,000.[11] Despite the low revenue, the exposition reportedly attracted steady crowds and received a visit from President Theodore Roosevelt in April of 1902.
Plan of the South Carolina Inter-State and West Indian Exposition (site of today’s Hampton Park), 1901; Image showing dignitaries gathered around the Liberty Bell at the South Carolina Inter-State and West Indian Exposition, 1902. Between 1885 and 195, the Liberty Bell made seven tours around the country to expositions similar to Charleston's.
At the same time, the Ivory City was coming to a close City of Charleston officials were looking to create a new park closer to the city to replace the short-lived Olmsted Brothers designed Chicora Park (located outside of city limits at the site of Riverfront Park in North Charleston today), which was being sold by the City to the United States Navy for use as its Navy Yard. [12] With the funds gained from the sale of Chicora Park, the City was able to purchase the former race course and surrounding land from the Library Society.[13]
By 1903, the City had acquired around 200 acres of land to use for the creation of a public park, named in honor of Wade Hampton III, former South Carolina Governor, U.S. Senator, Confederate General, and prominent member of the Jockey Club [14]. From 1902 to 1903, workers shaped the former exposition site into a public park, with attention paid to reusing the area and resources around the Sunken Garden, including the bandstand, restaurant, and summer theater. Additionally, the gardens featured at the former exposition were maintained during this period.
In 1904, the Olmsted Brothers, prominent landscape architects of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, were contacted to help redesign the new park, as City officials acknowledged that it lacked a centralized vision.[15] John Charles Olmsted played a significant role in shaping the park. Some of his actions included quashing the installation of a monument in honor of Wade Hampton III and rejecting the addition of a roller coaster. Olmsted explained in a March 3, 1911, letter to Mayor Rhett that he believed “Great soldiers are in effect great destroyers and their whole attitude towards affairs is one which is utterly out of harmony with all the ideas and associations appropriate to landscape parks” [16]. In a letter dated November 25, 1911, to Board of Parks Commissioner Samuel Lapham, Olmsted also objected to the inclusion of a roller coaster inside the park. In correspondence with Lapham, Olmsted described the addition of such an attraction as “exceedingly conspicuous and hideous” and that it would create "disfigurement to the park." [17] Ultimately, the Olmsted brothers played a key role in the design of the park and its gardens in the early 1900s.
Significant changes would occur to the park around 1919. At this time, Hampton Park contained roughly 200 acres, extending to the Ashley River.[18] However, due to the growing enrollment and needs of The Citadel, the City made the difficult decision to surrender over 100 acres of land to the State of South Carolina to build a new campus and relocate the school from its original location at Marion Square. This decision was controversial, but the desire to keep The Citadel in Charleston outweighed the City’s need to retain the park’s access to the Ashley River.
Little remembered today, Hampton Park once had a zoo. Animals at first only included swans in the lagoon, but the collection would significantly grow in the early twentieth century. According to the 1914 City Yearbook, “to add to the attraction at the park” two pairs of Rocky Mountain owls, a pair of prairie dogs, three golden and silver pheasants, and one black swan were acquired.[19] By 1929, the park's collection included two gray foxes, one red fox, one coyote, three parrots, two honey bears, five deer, three goats, six sheep, two peacocks, four owls, two pheasants, two fox squirrels, three raccoons, and twenty-five rabbits.[20] Once again in 1937, the exhibit increased with the addition of several birds. Most of the animals housed at the park were donations.[21]
Clockwise from upper left: Gazebo circa 1911 (City Yearbook, 1911); Sunken garden in 1937 (City Yearbook, 1937); a view of the sunken garden in 1939 featuring machine-mown grass (City Yearbook 1939; the new aviary enclosure in 1937 (City Yearbook, 1937)
Although popular for many years, the zoo ultimately closed in 1975 at the discretion of the Charleston City Council over concerns raised after the passage of the Animal Welfare Act of 1970. The city explored several options to keep the zoo, but the expenses were too much for the city to justify. Most of the animals were relocated to Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site, while the remaining were sent to zoos around the United States.[22]
The park experienced an overall decline in the 1960s that was only furthered by the removal of the zoo. The main factor contributing to this decline was the changing demographics in the mid-1900s, which saw families leaving urban areas and relocating to the growing suburbs. Without the surrounding communities lobbying for its maintenance, Hampton Park fell into disrepair, neglect and increased crime.[23]
Although some city officials wanted to sell the land off the land to The Citadel, others, such as former Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr., saw the importance of public spaces and advocated for renewed investment in the park. Mayor Riley would go on to lead a project in which the park was fully renovated in the early 1980s. With funds from the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery (UPARR) Program, the City was able to start the restoration in 1981, with construction concluding in 1984. Projects included relocating the bandstand, rebuilding the lagoon, and adding more accessible parking [24].
Restoration work taking place under the UPARR Program grant, circa 1981.
Taking the form of a racecourse, exposition site, POW camp, and urban greenspace, Hampton Park’s history is dynamic to say the least. Today, the park remains a popular site for locals and tourists alike. Its preservation is both a gift to the community and a remembrance of its complex past.
Endnotes
[1] Kevin Eberle, A History of Charleston’s Hampton Park (The History Press, 2012), 31.
[2] Dave Roos, "One of the Earliest Memorial Day Ceremonies Was Held by Freed African Americans," History.com, May 24, 2019, https://www.history.com/articles/memorial-day-civil-war-slavery-charleston.
[3] Roos.
[4] Roos.
[5] "Washington Race Course," accessed July 24, 2025, at https://www.charlestonraconteurs.com/washington-race-course.html; Roos.
[6] "Washington Race Course;" Roos.
[7] "Washington Race Course."
[8] Eberle, 48.
[9] Eberle, 48.
[10] "Washington Race Course."
[11] "Washington Race Course."
[12] Charleston, City of, Charleston Yearbook, 1901, 135-136 (hereafter City of Charleston, Yearbook); City of Charleston, Yearbook, 1902, 139-140; City of Charleston, Yearbook, 1903 (p.g. 146-147)
[13] City of Charleston, Yearbook, 1903, 146-147.
[14] City of Charleston, Year Book, 1902, 143-144.
[15] Eberle, 86.
[16] Charleston, City of, Records Management Division, “Records Management Municipal Research Files, 1698-2017,” Box 4, File “Hampton Park, Olmsted Brothers, Correspondence, 1899-1925”
[17] John Charles Olmsted to Robert Goodwyn Rhett, March 3, 1911, City of Charleston, “Records Management Municipal Research Files, 1698-2017,” Box 4, File “Hampton Park, Olmsted Brothers, Correspondence, 1899-1925.”
[18] Eberle, 100.
[19] City of Charleston, Year Book 1914, 265-267.
[20] Eberle, 106.
[21] Eberle, 107.
[22] Eberle, 110.
[23] Eberle, 123.
[24] Charleston, City of, Records Management Division, "Hampton Park Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Program Final Grant Application, 1980," Grant Files, Box 2, Folder 27.
Bibliography
City Council of Charleston. City of Charleston Yearbook, 1901. Walker, Evans, and Cogswell Company, 1902.
City Council of Charleston. City of Charleston Yearbook, 1903. Walker, Evans, and Cogswell Company, 1904.
City Council of Charleston. City of Charleston Yearbook, 1904. Walker, Evans, and Cogswell Company, 1905.
City Council of Charleston. City of Charleston Yearbook, 1915. Walker, Evans, and Cogswell Company, 1916.
City of Charleston Records Management Division. “Municipal Research Files, 1698-2017.”
City of Charleston Records Management Division. “Grant Files, 1947-2004.”
Eberle, Kevin R. A History of Charleston’s Hampton Park. The History Press, 2012.
Roos, Dave. “One of the Earliest Memorial Day Ceremonies Was Held by Freed African
Americans.” HISTORY.com, May 24, 2019.
“Washington Race Course.” Charlestonraconteurs.com, 2025,
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