Hampton Park (Charleston)
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| Coordinates | 32°48′0″N 79°57′22″W / 32.80000°N 79.95611°WCoordinates: 32°48′0″N 79°57′22″W / 32.80000°N 79.95611°W |
| Area | 60 acres (24 ha) |
| Created | 1906 |
| Parking | 40 |
Hampton Park is a public park located in peninsular Charleston, South Carolina, USA. At 60 acres (240,000 m2), it is the largest park on the peninsula. It is bordered by The Citadel to the west, Hampton Park Terrace to the south, North Central to the east, and Wagener Terrace to the north. The park is named in honor of Confederate General Wade Hampton III who, at the time of the Civil War, owned one of the largest collections of slaves in the South . After the Civil War, Hampton became a proponent of the Lost Cause movement, member of the Red Shirts and governor of South Carolina.
The land constituting current-day Hampton Park was, by 1769, part of a plantation owned by John Gibbes and known as The Grove or Orange Grove Plantation.
In 1835, part of Gibbes' plantation was acquired by the South Carolina Jockey Club, a group that developed the Washington Race Course on the site. An annual horse race in February attracted thousands of spectators who could watch the races from an Italianate grandstand designed by Charles F. Reichardt. Today, Mary Murray Drive is a one-mile (1.6 km) parkway that circles Hampton Park in almost the exact location of the race track.
During the closing days of the Civil War, the area was used as a prisoner-of-war camp. More than two hundred Union soldiers died in the camp and were buried in a mass grave at the site.
In an article titled "The First Decoration Day", David W. Blight of Yale has written:
"The city was largely abandoned by white residents by late February. Among the first troops to enter and march up Meeting Street singing liberation songs was the 21st U. S. Colored Infantry; their commander accepted the formal surrender of the city.
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Wikipedia