Visit The Crumbling Ruins Of Florida's Hotel Hampton

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In the late 1800s through the early 1900s, health spas were all the rage. Before certain advances in modern medicine, people flocked to these resorts looking for cures for just about everything. One of these was the lovely Hotel Hampton in Taylor County, built in 1908. The 70-room, two-story resort touted all kinds of benefits from the sulphur water of Hampton Springs, and it even had a bottling plant so people all over the country could order shipments of the healing waters.

The resort was quite impressive, even by today’s standards, with stables, tennis courts, a ballroom, golf course, spring-fed pool and baths, railroad depot, and its own farm and power plant. The Great Depression also served a fatal blow to many of these luxury health resorts, but Hotel Hampton actually stayed open, serving as military barracks in the 1930s and 1940s. Thus, the hotel managed to stay in operation until 1954, when it was destroyed by a fire.

The resort was quite impressive, even by today’s standards, with stables, tennis courts, a ballroom, golf course, covered pool, spring-fed baths, and its own farm, power plant and railroad depot. The resort had rich and famous guests, including Theodore Roosevelt. The Great Depression served a fatal blow to many of these luxury health resorts, but Hotel Hampton actually stayed open, serving as military barracks for part of the 1930s and 1940s. The hotel managed to stay in operation until 1954, when it was destroyed by a fire.

Seeing the ruins of the fountains, pathways, and pools that are all that remains of the resort today, you would never guess what luxury once existed here. The area is open to the public, with parking and picnic tables to encourage visitors to explore and learn about the grand old hotel. Check out some photos of the resort then and now below: