Mary Ann's Visit: Part 2a: Hampton Mansion

The back of Hampton Mansion

The Hampton Mansion is a National Park Service Historic Site, located north of Baltimore, Maryland in Towson.  The mansion was built by Captain Charles Ridgely, whose father had purchased the land from a relative of Lord Baltimore. The mansion is built in the style of Georgian architecture and was completed in 1790.

Rob and Tom outside of the Hampton

MaryAnn and Tom peering in a 2nd floor room

MaryAnn, Tom and Rob looking for ghosts!

Hampton was a large plantation with a working and prosperous farm. There were numerous farm buildings and homes for the servants and slaves. Hampton thrived in the 1820s when it covered an area up to 25,000 acres. The property included croplands, orchards, livestock, stables, ironworks, and even coal mining. According to the National Park Service, Hampton was one of the largest slave-holding estates in Maryland.

Creepy doll set up on the 2nd floor

There are three floors to the mansion, and the third floor is blocked off to the general public.
The second floor contained some bedrooms, and one was decorated as a child's room with a small table and chairs with dolls. That setting was disturbing to me - maybe it was that the dolls were creepy looking!  - We also took a short video of the second floor to give you an idea of how it was set up.

The golden parlor

When we returned to the first floor the last room we walked through was a parlor that was brightly decorated and had lots of photos on the wall. We also took a short video of the room.

The dining room