A historically black junior college in Ocala, Florida (1958–1966) created to maintain segregation.
Hampton Junior College opened in 1958 in Ocala, Florida, as one of eleven black community colleges founded at the urging of the Florida Legislature to demonstrate a "separate but equal" educational system for Black students and to circumvent the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision. Originally named Howard Junior College, it was renamed during its first year to honor L. R. Hampton Sr., a local dentist who had advanced Black education in Marion County. The college operated under the direction of the Marion County Board of Public Instruction with support from adjacent Citrus and Levy counties.
Hampton Junior College initially held classes in the late afternoon and evening using facilities of the black Howard High School. In 1960–61, the college completed its own dedicated campus, which consisted of a classroom building, a library shared with the high school, an industrial building, and an administrative building housing faculty offices and a student lounge. The college served a regional population for whom Florida A&M University, 175 miles away, had been the closest public college accepting Black students.
The college reached peak enrollment of 890 students in the 1964–65 school year. Over its eight years of operation, a total of 3,905 students attended Hampton Junior College, with 317 graduating. In 1966, the institution was merged with Central Florida Junior College (today the College of Central Florida), also founded in 1958. Of the 778 students in the final year, 207 enrolled at Central Florida Junior College, and 10 of the 19 regular faculty members transferred.