It was discovered by James Edward Keeler on 6 December 1899, but was then lost until 1981.
Its provisional name was 1899 FD.
The asteroid is named for Mount Hamilton, the site of Lick Observatory where Keeler was working when he discovered the asteroid.
L. K. Kristensen at Aarhus University rediscovered 452 Hamiltonia along with 1537 Transylvania along with numerous other small objects in 1981.
[2] These rediscoveries left only nine numbered minor planets unobserved since their discoveries: 330 Adalberta (which never existed in the first place), 473 Nolli, 719 Albert, 724 Hapag, 843 Nicolaia, 878 Mildred, 1009 Sirene, 1026 Ingrid, and 1179 Mally.