Hampton Park Terrace Information

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Hampton Park Terrace is less than three miles from Charleston’s famous Battery, but just over one hundred years ago the area was still a mix of small farms, a dairy, and lumber yards. In 1901 alone, though, the Navy located its new shipyard just north of the city, and an international trade exposition opened on the grounds of the old Washington Race Course to promote Charleston’s commercial potential. Trolley lines were extended to the upper peninsula, and development edged north.

          Meanwhile, Americans were looking to leave crowded, dirty urban centers to pursue new ideas of clean, modern, suburban comfort. Lured by promises of convenience, gracious sidewalks and streetlights, and freedom from the flooding that plagued the lower peninsula, the city’s business executives and upper-middle class began buying or building homes in Hampton Park Terrace. 

          Most of its houses were built between 1912 and 1925. Popular magazines had created a sense of American architecture of the middle-class, and Hampton Park Terrace followed those trends.  Foursquares are the most common form, but Spanish Colonial homes, bungalows, and other styles can all be found. The 1912 master plan required all houses to cost at least $1,800, but today most homes are in the $300,000 to $400,000 range. Unrestored houses can still be had for less.

          The neighborhood first drew those looking to escape urban life, but the last ten years have brought residents eager to return to urban life. The real estate boom of the early 2000s increased the threat to one of Charleston’s least appreciated historic areas. Although the neighborhood was added to the National Register in 1997, Charleston can be jaded about 20^th century architecture because of its wealth of well-preserved 18^th and 19^th century buildings on the lower peninsula, and a neighborhood request for more architectural protection has languished in City Hall. Luckily, preservation-minded do-it-yourselfers have outnumbered house flippers.

The new residents are just the last in a string of demographic reinventions.  Hampton Park Terrace was strictly segregated when it opened, then an almost exclusively African-American neighborhood following White Flight in the 1960s. Today, it is the only significantly racially diverse area of town. Neighbors range from twentysomethings with children to retired Shipyard workers, teachers, hipster ukulele band players, and lawyers. The area has an active neighborhood association which hosts coffee and donut socials, plans Easter egg hunts in Hampton Park, and is at work on events to mark the neighborhood’s centennial. Friendly neighbors use their front porches for gatherings, take advantage of the park, and know each other.

As it approaches its 100^th birthday in 2012, Hampton Park Terrace is easily South Carolina’s best old house neighborhood and should be highlighted as such.