WILLIAM HAMPTON: Get the front door experience with Huntsville Revisted and discover Huntsville’s past

Story By Maria Rakoczy | Photos By Joshua Berry | Living 50 Plus

Whether a newcomer or an old-timer, William Hampton treats Huntsvillians to the “front porch experience” at Huntsville Revisited. Via a Facebook page, a museum, and tour opportunities, Hampton through Huntsville Revisited educates locals on their city’s past.

The “front porch experience” references the special conversations between Hampton’s grandparents and family members when stories and histories would be passed on, often taking place on the front porch. Hampton aims to offer a similar experience to the public with Huntsville Revisited.

“Growing up our family, a huge family, I have lots of cousins, lots of uncles and aunties, and we would have family reunions, and many of the family reunions were held at a house. So, there would be many conversations on the front porch, and listening to these stories from family members just lit a fire in me to learn more about our family history,” said Hampton. “So, I call it the front porch experience when I share these stories of the old-timers.”

These front porch conversations were influential in forming Hampton’s curiosity with and knowledge of history. He had the privilege of knowing three of his great-grandparents, all born in the nineteenth century, whose stories and artifacts of the past captivated him and sparked early on a desire to share his knowledge of history with others. In fact, Huntsville Revisited originated as early as the 1970s as one of Hampton’s high school term papers.

“Me, being from Huntsville, I was always yacking about Huntsville, Alabama, and I had teachers from other cities, and they would always put Huntsville down. So, I just started accumulating facts about Huntsville, positives about Huntsville, and so I did a term paper called ‘Huntsville Revisited’, and I just shared a lot of good things about Huntsville,” recalled Hampton.

Hampton was determined to prove his teachers and classmates wrong by sharing the fascinating history of Huntsville and at the same became determined to one day open a museum to further share the history of Huntsville. Fast forward to 2008, while working for local record label, Madison Avenue Records, Hampton took the idea to Facebook.

After learning of the platform from his sister-in-law, Hampton started a personal page with a photo album, named Huntsville Revisited, where he shared old photographs of places around Huntsville and Madison County.

Huntsville Revisited soon outgrew the humble album on Hampton’s personal page. It became so popular that Hampton could not keep up with messages flooding his personal page that he was also using to promote the record label.

“I was getting so many notifications through my Huntsville Revisited pictures; I was missing record orders and CD orders. So, I had to set up a separate page. So, I did that in November of 2008,” said Hampton.

Since then, Huntsville Revisited has amassed almost thirty thousand followers on Facebook and over 4,000 on Instagram. The pictures Hampton shares are a combination of Hampton’s own collection and submissions from followers. Long-time Huntsville residents are attracted to the page by the memories and nostalgia of old Huntsville. Newcomers come to learn more about their new hometown.

“New people love it!” said Hampton. “Sometimes they’ll say, ‘I live on a property. I wonder what was here before.’”

In 2020, Hampton expanded to a brick-and-mortar museum at the H.C. Blake Center on North Memorial Parkway. There, he displays an array of artifacts, a mix of his own finds and donations. Like the Facebook page, the museum features artifacts of all time periods and topics. Hampton especially appreciates the artifacts that other museums would not normally put on display.

“Some will say, ‘Oh this is little. Huntsville needs a big museum.’ See, you do realize that little museums have a place as well, right? Because the stories can be more intimate, and I have things that larger museums wouldn’t even want. I have items donated from families who are not household names, but yet they have items that are important to the general public,” said Hampton.

Hampton’s tours around Huntsville likewise continue the front porch experience. He’s able to give an in-depth exploration of the city through a local’s perspective that few commercial tour guides would be capable of.

“If you go on a walking tour with me, I’ll show where Alm Street was. I can show you where the Honey Hole was and give you colorful stories about those areas,” explained Hampton. “I know Huntsville, and I know Huntsville from the eyes of someone who moved all over this community.”

Over the years, through his work with Huntsville Revisited, Hampton has become a revered member of the North Alabama historical community. In addition to running Huntsville Revisited, he is also a board member for the Huntsville-Madison County Historical Association, the Scottsboro Boys Museum in Scottsboro, and the Huntsville Pilgrimage Association.

He facilitates educational programs for LearningQuest through the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library, is a consultant for the Huntsville Public Schools EarthScope Environmental Development Department, a reenactor for the Maple Hill Cemetery stroll, and chairman of the Circle of Remembrance and EarlyWorks Children’s Museum’s African American Advisory Board.

Learn more about William Hampton and Huntsville Revisited on Facebook and Instagram @huntsvillerevisited and in person at 2007 N. Memorial Parkway Suite O, Huntsville, AL 35810 or by phone at 256-683-7160.