Wade Hampton III - in Memoriam

In Memoriam

To honor Hampton for his leadership in the Civil War and the redemption of the state, the General Assembly created Hampton County from Beaufort County in 1878. The town of Hampton Courthouse, later shortened to Hampton, was incorporated on December 23, 1879, to serve as the county seat of Hampton County. Across South Carolina many towns and cities renamed streets for him. At least eight municipalities in South Carolina have a street named "Wade Hampton" (Beaufort, Charleston, Duncan, Greenville, Greer, Hampton, Taylors, and Walterboro) and approximately 47 towns in the state have streets named "Hampton". Two high schools in South Carolina are named Wade Hampton High School, one in Greenville and the other in Varnville. A residence hall at Hampton's alma mater, the University of South Carolina, is called the Wade Hampton. There is a Hampton Park in Charleston and a Hampton Park in Columbia named after Hampton. The historic Hampton Heights neighborhood in Spartanburg is also named after him. In 1964, Wade Hampton Academy was charted in Orangeburg; the school later merged with Willington Academy in 1986 to become Orangeburg Preparatory Schools, Inc.

In 1913, Judge John Randolph Tucker named the Wade Hampton Census Area in Alaska to commemorate his father-in-law. An artillery battery was named after Wade Hampton at Fort Crockett, built on Galveston Island, Texas. The Wade Hampton Battery was one of four coastal artillery batteries and contained two 10-inch guns. During World War II, the SS Wade Hampton, a Liberty ship named in honor of the general, was sunk off the coast of Greenland by a German U-boat.

In Greenville County, South Carolina, the section of U.S. Route 29 that connects Greenville to Spartanburg is called Wade Hampton Boulevard. There is also a fire district (Wade Hampton Fire Department) named in his honor located on the east side of Greenville, adjoining the Greenville city limits.