The history of Hampton
By Karolina Ilina
November 22, 2017
By Karolina Ilina
November 22, 2017
Night settles over the township like a fog but the sounds of pounding metal horseshoes echo through the streets. The dust from sawing lumber chokes the air and thunder seems to come from below people’s feet in the mines. Small necessity shops are just starting to wake up, draw their curtains to greet a new day. Welcome to early twentieth century Hampton, Pennsylvania.
Before all this ever happened Hampton was just an area called Talley Cavey. Early records show that the first Europeans, the vast majority being Scotch-Irish, had settled in Talley Cavey between 1754 and 1763. The name was inspired by Ireland’s Tullycavy which translates to “hill over the borough” from Gaelic Irish. Although the first documentation of Hampton’s population comes over a hundred years later, from the 1870s, with only about 940 people.
Hampton itself became a township in 1861 and was named after Moses Hampton who had been a judge for the Allegheny County District Court as well as a U.S Representative for one of Pennsylvania’s districts for at least one term (a member of the Whig Party). He had been the one that signed the documents making Hampton into a township. His name was selected to appear as the township’s title due to his “honesty, fairness, truthfulness, kindness, and benevolence” all of which Hampton’s resides wanted reflected in the township (even though he never actually resided within Hampton’s borders).
Before the mid 1900s Hampton had been drastically different from what it is now. According to the Depreciation Lands Museum,“The real growth happened during the second half of the 20th century.”
Early into its years Hampton had just been a rural town. The jobs all fell under the category of blue collar, limited to farming, metal and lumber working, as well as mining. In fact there used to be mines all over Hampton, some hundreds years old, that still exist just buried miles under the Township.
However, presently, there are more white collar workers living in Hampton and it is identified as a suburban area. What happened?
The change occurred around the late 1980s when Christopher Lochner had just been hired as Township manager. The industrial/commercial buildings starting to slowly drop in numbers meanwhile the residential buildings moved into the foreground (in attempts to create more acreage for individual houses). Baseball fields and tennis courts were established.
Hampton High, the current Middle School building, however, was established forty years before the sudden change. 1943 marked the first year of opening of that high school. The present High School, on the other hand, opened around the late 1960s.
The mascot of Hampton had always been the talbot, which was chosen when a group of students began to research and came across the coat of arms of the House of Hampton, England (which is related to Moses Hampton, the founder). It featured a silver dog known as the talbot which caught the attention of the students who later proposed it to be the mascot, and it had been accepted.
The first record showing any public schools on the Hampton territory was in 1862 (just a year after the Township was established) with only one hundred and six students all divided between four elementary schools-- compared to just over a thousand students currently attending the high school alone, one hundred fifty-six years later.
Even with the little salary for the teachers in 1862 (a mere 12 dollars on average per month) the schools were committed to a Tradition of Excellence. They established a Child Guiding Philosophy, which helped students reach their potential.
The Depreciation Lands Museum Volunteer Coordinator, Karen Parsons, said that Hampton’s schools “have responded over the years to the demographic development of the Township.” Earlier families living in Hampton did not require higher education. Although gradually this changed, more demands for quality education arose and Hampton responded with it.
When asked what she expected for the future for Hampton she responded with “Hampton is obviously a township which responds to residents needs and desires, and will continue to do so.”
Before all this ever happened Hampton was just an area called Talley Cavey. Early records show that the first Europeans, the vast majority being Scotch-Irish, had settled in Talley Cavey between 1754 and 1763. The name was inspired by Ireland’s Tullycavy which translates to “hill over the borough” from Gaelic Irish. Although the first documentation of Hampton’s population comes over a hundred years later, from the 1870s, with only about 940 people.
Hampton itself became a township in 1861 and was named after Moses Hampton who had been a judge for the Allegheny County District Court as well as a U.S Representative for one of Pennsylvania’s districts for at least one term (a member of the Whig Party). He had been the one that signed the documents making Hampton into a township. His name was selected to appear as the township’s title due to his “honesty, fairness, truthfulness, kindness, and benevolence” all of which Hampton’s resides wanted reflected in the township (even though he never actually resided within Hampton’s borders).
Before the mid 1900s Hampton had been drastically different from what it is now. According to the Depreciation Lands Museum,“The real growth happened during the second half of the 20th century.”
Early into its years Hampton had just been a rural town. The jobs all fell under the category of blue collar, limited to farming, metal and lumber working, as well as mining. In fact there used to be mines all over Hampton, some hundreds years old, that still exist just buried miles under the Township.
However, presently, there are more white collar workers living in Hampton and it is identified as a suburban area. What happened?
The change occurred around the late 1980s when Christopher Lochner had just been hired as Township manager. The industrial/commercial buildings starting to slowly drop in numbers meanwhile the residential buildings moved into the foreground (in attempts to create more acreage for individual houses). Baseball fields and tennis courts were established.
Hampton High, the current Middle School building, however, was established forty years before the sudden change. 1943 marked the first year of opening of that high school. The present High School, on the other hand, opened around the late 1960s.
The mascot of Hampton had always been the talbot, which was chosen when a group of students began to research and came across the coat of arms of the House of Hampton, England (which is related to Moses Hampton, the founder). It featured a silver dog known as the talbot which caught the attention of the students who later proposed it to be the mascot, and it had been accepted.
The first record showing any public schools on the Hampton territory was in 1862 (just a year after the Township was established) with only one hundred and six students all divided between four elementary schools-- compared to just over a thousand students currently attending the high school alone, one hundred fifty-six years later.
Even with the little salary for the teachers in 1862 (a mere 12 dollars on average per month) the schools were committed to a Tradition of Excellence. They established a Child Guiding Philosophy, which helped students reach their potential.
The Depreciation Lands Museum Volunteer Coordinator, Karen Parsons, said that Hampton’s schools “have responded over the years to the demographic development of the Township.” Earlier families living in Hampton did not require higher education. Although gradually this changed, more demands for quality education arose and Hampton responded with it.
When asked what she expected for the future for Hampton she responded with “Hampton is obviously a township which responds to residents needs and desires, and will continue to do so.”