Hampton, Ontario

Hampton is a community located in the municipality of Clarington, Ontario, Canada. It originally served as the township office headquarters for Darlington Township until 1974 when it was annexed by The Town of Newcastle (now Clarington).^[1] Hampton was founded by Henry Elliot in 1840, who opened the first mill here in the former Darlington Township. At first it was called "Elliot's Mill" and then by 1848 just "Millsville". Other former names have included: "Hog's Hollow" and "Shantytown". With the opening of the post office the name "Hampton" was chosen, as it was an abbreviation of Henry Elliot's birthplace, Kirkhampton in Cornwall, England.

Hampton has two schools: Hampton Junior Public School which goes from junior kindergarten to grade 3, and M. J. Hobbs Senior Public School which covers grades 4-8.

It has two convenience stores, one of which has an LCBO and The Beer Store located inside, two auto garages, one local pizza store, two coffee shops, and Paddy's Market (a new and used appliances store). Hampton is also home to the Darlington sports arena.

Post office history

The first post office in Hampton was opened in 1851. At that time, the name of the village was Millsville, but the name was changed with the opening of the post office. Henry Elliott served as its first Postmaster. His son, Henry Jr., took over the position until 1915, when Mr. W. Horn was appointed. During this period, the post office was located on the east side of town at Horn's store (later destroyed by fire in 1983). In 1937, the post office was moved to Barron's store across the street.

Finally, in 1971 the post office was moved to the federal building at its present location on Millville Ave, with Pete Barron as Postmaster. Mrs. Nancy Pella became Postmistress in 1982. Mrs. Pella retired in 2011. Mrs. Heather Garvock is the current Postmaster. Today, it services the village with lock boxes and two rural routes. One of these rural routes came into being with the closure of the Enniskillen post office in 1986.

In film

• The 2002 John Q film's "Baseball scene" was filmed in Hampton, Ontario.
• In 1982 an episode of The Littlest Hobo, titled "Trooper" was filmed in Hampton, Ontario. The Hampton Junior Public school as well as a local house were used as settings. The town itself representing the evacuated town of Middleton. Several children from the school were used as extras.
• The 1971 biker film, The Proud Rider, was partially filmed outside the Hampton United Church during the film's final scene.

References

External links

• Village of Hampton Village of Hampton website
• Hampton at Geographical Names of Canada

Coordinates: 43°58′14″N 78°44′37″W / 43.97056°N 78.74361°W / 43.97056; -78.74361