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Robb Allan had no clue. He was 50 years old at the time, in Charleston to buy a boat, when the broker asked him if he was an “Allan, as in Allan Park.” The Florida resident had never heard of it but immediately called his father, the first in a long line of Allans not to have grown up in Charleston, to inquire about family history. “I was completely flabbergasted,” he says. That call led to years of genealogical digging and to a new passion for Allan, who now serves on the board of American Ancestors, one of the nation’s leading genealogical societies.
Turns out his deep ties to Charleston stem from a great, great grandfather, Alexander Allan, who emigrated from Scotland in the early 1800s. His son James became a successful silversmith and merchant, who parlayed that success into real estate and, after the Civil War, developed land around Hampton Park. James’s widow, Amey, donated Allan Park to the city in 1920.
When Robb Allan first went to visit his newly discovered namesake park, tucked along Ashley Avenue, in 2005, “it wasn’t in great shape,” he says. Allan contacted the city to offer funds to help clean it up, but the parks department at the time had limited capacity and other priorities. It wasn’t until the Parks Conservancy was founded that he got a call from Harry Lesesne, the conservancy’s first director. In 2012, Allan made a $30,000 donation to help fund the park’s initial restoration and was energized by the results. “After that, I heard that Spoleto was using it for concerts and outdoor events, and that neighbors were enjoying it. I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is what every donor dreams of, that you’re doing something that people really take to heart.’”
More recently, Allan has pledged a $100,000 matching challenge to help fund the park’s current renovation, while software CEO and Allan Park fan Carter Kennedy has committed $100,000 over five years through his foundation to support its long-term stewardship. Allan has connected with a third cousin, Peggy Pinckney, who lives on Johns Island and, along with other family members, is supporting the effort. “This is very much a park that belongs to the neighborhood. I wanted to support this renovation in a way that encourages other people to feel like they own it, too,” he says of the matching grant, open through December 2026. “My family created and donated the park to the city more than a century ago, and it’s deeply meaningful to honor that legacy and see it continue to serve as a gathering place for neighbors and families today and for generations to come.”
Allan Park
365 Ashley Ave., Hampton Park Terrace
Hours: Daily, sunrise to sunset
www.charlestonparksconservancy.org/park-finder/allan-park/
