Camden, South Carolina Camden, South Carolina Original Kershaw County courthouse in Camden Original Kershaw County courthouse in Camden State South Carolina Camden is a town/city in, and the governmental center of county of, Kershaw County, South Carolina, United States. The populace was 6,838 in the 2010 census. It is part of the Columbia, South Carolina, Metropolitan Statistical Area.
According to the United States Enumeration Bureau, Camden has a total region of 10.68 square miles (27.7 km2), of which 10.07 square miles (26.1 km2) is territory and 0.61 square miles (1.6 km2) (5.71%) is water.
Camden is the earliest inland town/city and fourth earliest town/city in South Carolina.
It is near the center of the Cofitachequi chiefdom that existed in the 1500s. In 1730, Camden became part of a township plan ordered by King George II.
Kershaw County's official web site states, "Originally laid out in 1732 as the town of Fredericksburg in the Wateree River swamp (south of the present town) when King George II ordered eleven inland townships established along South Carolina's rivers, several of the region settlers chose to take lots surveyed in the town, choosing the higher ground to the north.
Camden became the chief inland trade center in the colony.
Kershaw suggested that the town be retitled Camden, with respect to Lord Camden, a champion of colonial rights in the British Parliament.
May 1780 brought the American Revolution to Charleston, South Carolina, when it fell under the Crown's control.
Lord Charles Cornwallis and 2,500 of his Loyalist and British troops marched to Camden and established there the chief British supply post for the Southern campaign.
The Battle of Camden, the worst American defeat of the Revolution, was fought on August 16, 1780 near Camden, and on April 25, 1781 the Battle of Hobkirk Hill was fought between about 1,400 troops led by General Nathanael Greene and 950 Loyalists and British soldiers led by Lord Francis Rawdon.
After the Revolution, Camden's eminence and richness interval as a primary interior trading town with direct ties to Charleston and the world.
Regional products, augmented with goods from the interior of North Carolina and far lands to the west were transported from Camden to Charleston on flat-bottom riverboats that plied the adjoining Wateree river before the barns appeared in 1842.
Camden, although not involved directly with the Civil War, did send six generals who contributed decidedly .
The last Federal officer killed in the Civil War died in a skirmish near Camden.
Starting in the mid-1880s the Camden region became an increasingly prominent destination for wealthy northern families to spend the winter.
According to Kershaw County's web site, "Horse related activities became very popular.
Because of its long history and many years of wealthy winter visitors and deep-pocket northern owners, Camden has an enviable inventory of antebellum homes and charm that remains unique among suburbs of its size in South Carolina and elsewhere.
The Adamson Mounds Site, Belmont Neck Site -38 - KE06, Bethesda Presbyterian Church, Boykin Mill Complex, Camden Battlefield, Zachariah Cantey House, Carter Hill, City of Camden Historic District, Cool Springs, Thomas English House, Historic Camden Revolutionary War Restoration, Kendall Mill Historic District, Mc - Dowell Site, Mulberry Plantation (James and Mary Boykin Chesnut House), and Seaboard Air Line Railway Depot are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The ethnic makeup of the town/city was 62.2% White, 35.1% African American, 0.20% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 0% Pacific Islander, 2.7% from other competitions, and 1.1% from two or more competitions.
The Kershaw House, Georgian mansion first built, 1775-1780, by Joseph Kershaw, merchant and dominant citizen of Camden became the command posts for the occupying British army, 1780-1781.
The competitions have turn into a South Carolina tradition, and normally draw a crowd of over 70,000 spectators.
Among primary steeplechase horse competitions, it is unique in that South Carolina state law prohibits gambling on horse racing.
In addition to James Madison's Montpelier in Orange County, Virginia, Marion du - Pont Scott owned Holly Hedge in Camden from 1944 until her death in 1983.
Camden High School Camden Middle School Camden Elementary School of the Creative Arts The Montessori School of Camden West - Governor of South Carolina (1971-1975) Lois Rhame West - First Lady of South Carolina (1971-1975), first woman to chair the Muscular Dystrophy Association Hastings Wyman - political consultant, journalist, and author; resided part of his childhood in Camden "Sherman's Army Comes to Camden: The Civil War Narrative of Sarah Dehon Trapier," South Carolina Historical Magazine, 109 (April 2008), 95 120.
Glen Inabinet "A History of Kershaw County, South Carolina" The University of South Carolina Press, 718pg.
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Municipalities and communities of Kershaw County, South Carolina, United States State of South Carolina
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Cities in South Carolina - Cities in Kershaw County, South Carolina - County seats in South Carolina - Populated places established in 1730 - Columbia, South Carolina urbane region - 1730 establishments in South Carolina - Camden, South Carolina
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