Some things are forever in Hampton.
Under the restaurants and convenient stores are the forest trails where the Iroquois tracked their dinners.
Hundreds of feet beneath the office buildings and ball fields are stretches of hollow mines, stripped for coal more than 100 years ago.
"We keep putting asphalt on top and building houses, but the history is still there," said Susan Claus, president of the Depreciation Lands Museum.
Deep within the hearts of those who were raised in Hampton is a sense of pride for the bedroom community north of Pittsburgh, ranked the second-best town for families in the United States, according to Family Circle Magazine.
Residents, officials and staff will celebrate Hampton's 150th birthday on Saturday with a gala in the community center. Ticket sales and sponsors will fund cocktails, dinner and entertainment for 250, while re-enactors from the Depreciation Lands Museum mingle with guests.
"May all of the good people of this township be blessed with dedicated leaders of their choosing for centuries to come," read the Honorable Moses Hampton, portrayed by a re-enactor at last month's Hampton Council meeting. The proclamation first established Hampton as a township in 1861.
Hampton prepared the necessary legal documents for a secession of residents from West Deer, Indiana and McCandless townships, said Dan Connolly, Hampton police chief.
At the turn of the 20th century, the job market in Hampton was limited. Men could farm, pound horseshoes, saw lumber or risk their lives in the mines. Families shopped for necessities at Hodil's General Store along Route 8, just south of the McDonald's.
"The community started blue-collar," said Chris Lochner, township manager. "Today, it's mostly white-collar and affluent."
During the prohibition era, speakeasies dotted the township, and there was a brothel on Mt. Royal Boulevard that today is occupied by Magic Moments Photography. Families rode the Butler Short Line to Etna to shop, as city children headed north, toward Hampton, for a little fresh air at a health farm.
Muder's Store was a shortline stop on Wildwood Road. The building is still there, along with a cement staircase that led to the entrance of Bongiovanni's. The club hosted national acts, such as Frank Sinatra and Sophie Tucker, before it burned down nearly 50 years ago, said Debbie Rassau, co-author of a book titled "Historic Hampton Township."
In 1986, Lochner was hired as township manager, four years before the population exploded.
The police barracks, baseball fields, athletic complex and tennis courts all were constructed. The staff was reorganized and departments condensed. Residential properties were approved over commercial and industrial ones and the zoning ordinance was amended to promote more acreage per home.
"It's more of a bedroom community," Rassau said.
Officials have established a standard of fiscal responsibility, Lochner said.
During the last recession, the budget was cut and the millage rate maintained, he said. If taxes were increased, it would be earned income, not property.
"As residents do better, we do better."
In August 2010, Family Circle Magazine named Hampton as the second-best U.S. town for families.
Jason Crooks, a senior at Hampton High School, is proud of the distinction and hopes to maintain it. He delivered a speech to the school board in December about the drawbacks of Marcellus shale drilling.
Susan Claus hopes more teens take an interest in their surroundings.
"We want young, educated people to stay here," she said. "Having pride in their community helps develop a connection."
