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The City of Hampton, Florida, located about six miles south of Starke was incorporated in 1893 and has gone through phases of boom and busy throughout its history. Hampton was known as Crossroads primary because the Atlantic-to-Gulf railroad was built through the area in 1859 and the settlement grew up around it. Good farmland prompted further settlement and several small stores were established. A second railroad, the Georgia-Southern and Florida Rail Line, passed through town a little later and prompted a boom. Crossroads was renamed Hampton when the first post office was established in 1882. The town of Hampton, Florida was named after a 10-year-old boy, Hampton Terry, whose father owned a farm near the railroad tracks.

The town of Hampton, Florida was incorporated in 1893, but it also allowed its charter to lapse and had to be reincorporated in 1911 and 1925. The Big Freeze adversely affected Hampton’s economy-as it did any town which relied on oranges and other agricultural crops and caused an end to the boom. Rapid use of timber in the area led to an exhaustion of the crop and a decline of the timber industry around Hampton. With the timber and oranges declining, farmers turned to cotton and strawberries. The town once had two cotton gins in operation. Hampton struggled to survive but as cars replaced trains as the main mode of travel, Hampton declined. Road 13 (now US 301) was re-routed and bypassed Hampton. The road had a curve called the Hampton Curve, which was considered dangerous and the State Road Department re-routed Road 13 in the 1930’s to straighten the curve.

Hampton appeared to be dying, but when Camp Blanding’s boom hit the area, the small town near Starke also benefited. Troops were carried to the camp on the train and their families rented rooms and homes in the town. When Blanding’s boom ended, however, Hampton subsided back into the sleepy little hamlet it is today.

Story Written by City Clerk/Administrator Hildreth Featured in Quality Cities