Camden, SC
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Camden is the largest city in and the
county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
of
Kershaw County, South Carolina Kershaw County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 65,403. The county seat and largest community is Camden. The county was created in 1791 from parts of Claremont, Lancaster, F ...
, United States. The population was 7,764 in the 2020 census, and the 2022 population estimate is 8,213. It is part of the Columbia, South Carolina, Metropolitan Statistical Area. Camden is the oldest inland city in South Carolina, and home to the Carolina Cup and the National Steeplechase Museum.


Geography

Camden is located in the
Midlands of South Carolina The Midlands region of South Carolina is the middle area of the state. The region's main center is Columbia, the state's capital. The Midlands is so named because it is halfway point between the Upstate and the Lowcountry. The main area code is ...
, in the south-central part of Kershaw County. It sits on the northeast side of the
Wateree River } The Wateree River, about 75 mi (120 km) long, is a tributary of the Santee River in central South Carolina in the United States, which flows to the Atlantic Ocean. It was named for the Wateree Native Americans, a tribe who had migrat ...
, a south-flowing tributary of the
Santee River } The Santee River is a river in South Carolina in the United States, and is long. The Santee and its tributaries provide the principal drainage for the coastal areas of southeastern South Carolina and navigation for the central coastal plain of ...
. According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, Camden has a total area of , of which are land and , or 6.21%, are water. U.S. Route 521 runs through downtown as Broad Street, leading southeast to
Sumter Sumter may refer to: People Given name * Sumter S. Arnim (1904–1990), American dentist * Sumter de Leon Lowry Jr. (1893–1985), United States Army general Surname * Rowendy Sumter (born 1988), Curaçaoan footballer * Shavonda E. Sumt ...
, and north to
Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...
.
US 601 U.S. Route 601 (US 601) is a north–south United States highway that runs for from U.S. Route 321, near Tarboro, South Carolina, to U.S. Route 52, in Mount Airy, North Carolina. In North Carolina, it is one of the main north-south c ...
runs with US 521 through downtown, leading north with US 521 to Kershaw, and south on its own to St. Matthews and to Orangeburg.
US Route 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, ma ...
(DeKalb Street) intersects with US 521 and 601 in downtown, leading southwest to the state capital, Columbia, and northeast to
Cheraw The Cheraw people, also known as the Saraw or Saura,Sebeok, Thomas Albert''Native Languages of the Americas, Volume 2.''Plenum Press, 1977: 251. were a Siouan-speaking tribe of Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands,Swanton''The Indians ...
.
Interstate 20 Interstate 20 (I‑20) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. I-20 runs beginning at an interchange with I-10 in Reeves County, Texas, and ending at an interchange with I-95 in Florence, South Carolina. B ...
passes south of the city's center; it leads east to
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
and southwest to Columbia.


Neighborhoods

* East Camden *Knights Hill *Dusty Bend *Windsor Heights *White Gardens *Arrowwood *The RaceTracks *Sunnyhill


History


Colonial years

Camden is the oldest inland city and the fourth oldest city in South Carolina. It is near the center of the
Cofitachequi Cofitachequi (pronounced Coffee—Ta—Check—We) was a paramount chiefdom founded about AD 1300 and encountered by the Hernando de Soto expedition in South Carolina in April 1540. Cofitachequi was later visited by Juan Pardo during his two exp ...
chiefdom that existed in the 1500s. In 1730, Camden became part of a township plan ordered by King George II. Kershaw County's official website states, "Originally laid out in 1732 as the town of Fredericksburg in the
Wateree River } The Wateree River, about 75 mi (120 km) long, is a tributary of the Santee River in central South Carolina in the United States, which flows to the Atlantic Ocean. It was named for the Wateree Native Americans, a tribe who had migrat ...
swamp (south of the present town) when King George II ordered eleven inland townships established along South Carolina's rivers, few of the area settlers chose to take lots surveyed in the town, choosing the higher ground to the north. The township soon disappeared." In 1758, Joseph Kershaw from
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
, England, came into the township, established a store, and renamed the town "Pine Tree Hill". Camden became the main inland trade center in the colony. Kershaw suggested that the town be renamed Camden, in honor of Lord Camden, a champion of colonial rights in the British Parliament. In the 1770s it was the site of an early American porcelain factory, established by
John Bartlam John Bartlam (1735–1781) was a British potter who emigrated to America in 1763, and established a factory in Cainhoy, then called Cain Hoy, nine miles north of Charleston, South Carolina before moving to Camden, South Carolina. His porcelain is ...
.


American Revolution and antebellum era

May 1780 brought the
American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
to
Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...
, when it fell under the Crown's control. Lord Charles
Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805) was a British Army officer, Whig politician and colonial administrator. In the United States and United Kingdom, he is best known as one of the leading Britis ...
and 2,500 of his Loyalist and British troops marched to Camden and established there the main British supply post for the Southern campaign. The
Battle of Camden The Battle of Camden (August 16, 1780), also known as the Battle of Camden Court House, was a major victory for the Kingdom of Great Britain, British in the Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War. On August 16, 1780, British forces ...
, the worst American defeat of the Revolution, was fought on August 16, 1780, near Camden, and on April 25, 1781, the
Battle of Hobkirk's Hill The Battle of Hobkirk's Hill (sometimes referred to as the Second Battle of Camden) was a battle of the American Revolutionary War fought on April 25, 1781, near Camden, South Carolina. A small American force under Nathanael Greene occupying Hobk ...
was fought between about 1,400 troops led by General
Nathanael Greene Major general (United States), Major General Nathanael Greene (August 7, 1742 – June 19, 1786) was an American military officer and planter who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War. He emerge ...
and 950 Loyalists and British soldiers led by Lord
Francis Rawdon Francis Edward Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings (9 December 175428 November 1826), styled The Honourable Francis Rawdon from birth until 1762, Lord Rawdon between 1762 and 1783, The Lord Rawdon from 1783 to 1793 and The Earl of Moira bet ...
. The latter battle was a costly win for the British and forced them to leave Camden and retreat to the coast. After the Revolution, Camden's prominence and wealth grew as a major interior trading town with direct ties to Charleston and the world. Regional products, augmented with goods from the interior of
North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
and far lands to the west were transported from Camden to Charleston on flat-bottom riverboats that plied the adjacent Wateree River before the railroad arrived in 1842. An Episcopal seminary opened in the town in 1857, but the campus burned during Sherman's invasion. The school did not reopen.


American Civil War and later years

Camden was the source of six
Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
generals during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
.
Richard Rowland Kirkland Richard Rowland Kirkland (August 1843 – September 20, 1863), known as "The Angel of Marye's Heights", was a Confederate soldier during the American Civil War, noted by both sides for his bravery and the story of his humanitarian actions dur ...
– "The Angel of Marye's Heights" – is interred in the Old Quaker Cemetery. At the end of the war, components of Sherman's army burned Confederate and nearby properties, including a full block of downtown buildings. The last Federal officer killed in the Civil War was 1st Lt E.L. Stevens of the
54th Massachusetts The 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment that saw extensive service in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The unit was the second African-American regiment, following the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry ...
Infantry who died in a skirmish 9 miles south of Camden at the Battle of Boykin's Mill on April 18, 1865. Starting in the mid-1880s the Camden area became an increasingly popular destination for wealthy northern families to spend the winter. Eventually, three resort hotels provided winter tourism activities well into the 1930s and beyond. The town became associated with many equestrian activities and is now the home of the third oldest active
polo Polo is a stick and ball game that is played on horseback as a traditional field sport. It is one of the world's oldest known team sports, having been adopted in the Western world from the game of Chovgan (), which originated in ancient ...
field in America. In the winter, more than 1,500
thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...
s call the area home. According to Kershaw County's web site, "Horse-related activities became very popular. That interest in equine activities has continued and today the horse industry is a major part of the county's economy. For that reason, the city is known as the '
Steeplechase SteepleChase Records is a jazz record company and label based in Copenhagen, Denmark. SteepleChase was founded in 1972 by Nils Winther, who was a student at Copenhagen University at the time. He began recording concerts at Jazzhus Montmartre, ...
Capital of the World'." In 1950, Dupont opened the Dupont May Plant in Camden which manufactured
Orlon Acrylic fibers are synthetic fibers made from a polymer (polyacrylonitrile) with an average molecular weight of ~100,000, about 1900 monomer units. For a fiber to be called "acrylic" in the US, the polymer must contain at least 85% acrylonitri ...
. The plant was located on five miles of land and employed over 2,000 people. For many years it was the town's largest employer. In 1977, DuPont notified the
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH, ) is the List of United States federal agencies, United States federal agency responsible for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related occ ...
of a study the company conducted which showed an "excessive incidence and cancer mortality" rate among a cohort of workers who worked at the plant from 1950 to 1955. The findings were liked to a major chemical component of Orlon,
acrylonitrile Acrylonitrile is an organic compound with the formula and the structure . It is a colorless, volatile liquid. It has a pungent odor of garlic or onions. Its molecular structure consists of a vinyl group () linked to a nitrile (). It is an im ...
. Citing issues with foreign competition, Dupont ended the production of Orlon in 1990. Since the closure of the Orlon plant, the town has attracted a number of manufacturing companies such as Hengst GmbH & Co. and
Haier Haier Group Corporation () is a Chinese multinational home appliances and consumer electronics company headquartered in Qingdao, Shandong. Its Haier Smart Home Company affiliate, of which it owns 35%, designs, develops, manufactures and se ...
. In 2003, Target opened an $85 million distribution center in the town.


Jewish community

Camden has long had a Jewish community. Members of the community have included
David Camden de Leon David Camden de Leon or DeLeon (May 6, 1816 – September 2, 1872), known as "the fighting doctor", was born in Camden, South Carolina, of Sephardic Jewish parents, Mordecai Hendricks de Leon, a physician and three-term mayor of Columbia, South Ca ...
, Mordecai M. Levy,
Chapman Levy Chapman Levy (1787–1849) was a lawyer, officer in the War of 1812, state legislator, and plantation owner. He was born in Camden, South Carolina and grew up in Columbia, South Carolina. He worked as a lawyer in Camden. He was Jewish. He was mar ...
, and
Bernard Baruch Bernard Mannes Baruch (August 19, 1870 – June 20, 1965) was an American financier and statesman. After amassing a fortune on the New York Stock Exchange, he impressed President Woodrow Wilson by managing the nation's economic mobilization in W ...
.


Demographics


2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 7,788 people, 2,905 households, and 1,810 families residing in the city.


2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 6,838 people living in the city limits, in 2,967 households and 1,800 families. The population density was . There were 3,544 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 62.2%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 35.1%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.20% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 0%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 2.7% from other races, and 1.1% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino people of any race were 2.4% of the population. There were 2,967 households, out of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.1% were married couples living together, 16.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.3% were non-families. 35.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.94. In the city, the population was spread out, with 21.9% under the age of 18, 20.1% from 18 to 39, 34.5% from 40 to 64, 17.3% from 65 to 84, and 4.3% who were 85 years of age or older. The median age was 45.3 years. 45.0% of the population was male and 55.0% of the population was female. The median income for a household in the city was $48,313, and the median income for a family was $62,140. Males had a median income of $42,597 versus $32,524 for females. The per capita income for the city was $26,385. About 13.7% of families and 15.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.3% of those under age 18 and 13.2% of those aged 65 or over.


Government

Camden has a city manager–council form of government. Alfred Mae Drakeford, an African American woman, was elected
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
of Camden in November 2016. Current City Council members are Hamilton Boykin; Joanna B. Craig and Stephen R. Smoak. Camden has been represented in the
South Carolina Senate The South Carolina State Senate is the upper house of the South Carolina General Assembly, the lower house being the South Carolina House of Representatives. It consists of 46 senators elected from single member districts for four-year terms at ...
by
Vincent Sheheen Vincent Austin Sheheen (born April 29, 1971) is an American attorney and politician. He was a member of the South Carolina Senate from 2004 to 2020, representing the 27th District, which comprises Chesterfield, Kershaw, and Lancaster counties ...
, who was born in Camden;
Penry Gustafson Penry Gustafson (born May 20, 1970) is a former member of the South Carolina Senate. She represented District 27 ( Chesterfield, Kershaw, and Lancaster Counties) from 2021 to 2024. Political career S.C. Senate Gustafson served on the Senat ...
, Thomas McElveen, and currently by Jeffrey R. Graham, a former Camden Mayor and City Council member. Camden is part of
South Carolina's 5th Congressional District South Carolina's 5th congressional district is a congressional district in northern South Carolina bordering North Carolina. The district includes all of Cherokee County, South Carolina, Cherokee, Chester County, South Carolina, Chester, Fairfi ...
, which is represented by
Ralph Norman Ralph Warren Norman Jr. (born June 20, 1953) is an American real estate developer and politician who has served as the U.S. representative for since 2017. His district includes most of the South Carolina side of the Charlotte metropolitan ...
.


Education

The
Kershaw County School District Kershaw County School District (KCSD) is a public school district in Kershaw County, South Carolina, Kershaw County, South Carolina (United States, US). Led by Superintendent (education), Superintendent of Schools Dr. Harrison Goodwin, KCSD serv ...
is the governing body of the public schools in the area. The district operates Pine Tree Hill Elementary School, Jackson Elementary School, Camden Elementary School, Woolard Technology Center (WTC), Camden Middle School, and Camden High School.
Camden Military Academy Camden Military Academy (CMA) is a private, Single-sex education, all-male, Military academy, military boarding school located in Camden, South Carolina, United States. The State of South Carolina has recognized the institution as the official st ...
, the Montessori School of Camden, and Cornerstone Christian School are private institutions. Central Carolina Technical College has two branches located in Camden. Camden has a
public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...
, a branch of the Kershaw County Library.


Arts and culture

The Carolina Cup is an annual event held on either the final Saturday in March or the first Saturday of April. The first race was held on March 22, 1930, and has been held every year since, with the exception of 1943 and 1945 during World War II and 2020 due to the
coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...
. The races have become a South Carolina tradition, and normally draw a crowd of over 70,000 spectators. "The Cup" has become a premier social sporting event in Camden and in South Carolina. The race is held at the Springdale Race Course, just north of Camden. The National Steeplechase Museum is located near the course. Among major steeplechase horse races, the Carolina Cup is unique that in South Carolina state law prohibits gambling on horse racing. Held annually on the first Saturday of March, Irish Fest Camden draws over 2,000 visitors to its celebration of Saint Patrick's Day and Irish and Celtic culture. Founded in 2017, the festival features live Irish music and dancing, the Lucky Leprechaun 5K race, heavy event athletics, a kids zone, arts & crafts, a Medieval/Renaissance encampment, Irish wolfhounds, Gypsy Vanner horses, exotic birds, food trucks, and festive green beer. Revolutionary War Field Days are the signature event of Historic Camden, held the first full weekend of November since 1970. Hundreds of reenactors from across the country converge on the grounds to camp, battle, and celebrate over the weekend. Visitors have a chance to be a spectator for a battle each day, and they will be able to walk through the camps of the combatants while seeing demonstrations of Colonial crafts and skills. Colonial sutlers (merchants) and scholars giving talks about the war are on site as well. More than 3,400 spectators and 350 reenactors and demonstrators attended the 2017 event.


Transportation

* Seaboard Air Line Railway Depot * Woodward Field (Kershaw County Airport)


Media

The ''Chronicle-Independent'' has served as the local
newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...
of Camden since 1889.
WPUB-FM WPUB-FM (102.7 MHz) is a radio station broadcasting an oldies format. Licensed to Camden, South Carolina, United States. Previous frequency was 94.3 MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units ( ...
is a
radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...
licensed to Camden that broadcasts
oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...
format. WCAM 1590 is another radio station licensed to Camden, which broadcasts in
adult standards Adult standards (also sometimes known as the nostalgia or Big Band format) is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations. Adult standards started in the 1950s and is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly tho ...
format.


Notable people

* Thomas Austin,
NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...
player *
Bernard Baruch Bernard Mannes Baruch (August 19, 1870 – June 20, 1965) was an American financier and statesman. After amassing a fortune on the New York Stock Exchange, he impressed President Woodrow Wilson by managing the nation's economic mobilization in W ...
, financier and presidential adviser * Charles Bennett, NFL player *
Brook Benton Benjamin Franklin Peay (September 19, 1931 – April 9, 1988), known professionally as Brook Benton, was an American singer and songwriter whose music transcended rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and pop music genres in the 1950s and 1960s, with ...
, singer * Mary Chesnut, author and Civil War diarist *
Robert Clarkson Robert Barnwell Clarkson (June 4, 1947 – March 1, 2010) was an American tax protester in South Carolina. Early life Clarkson was born in Camden, South Carolina, the son of James S. H. Clarkson, Jr. of Sumter, South Carolina and Frances Dargan ...
, lawyer, tax protester *
Larry Doby Lawrence Eugene Doby (December 13, 1923 – June 18, 2003) was an American professional baseball player in the Negro league baseball, Negro leagues and Major League Baseball (MLB) who was the second black player to break baseball color line, bas ...
, first African American to play in the
American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...
, member of
Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...
*
Bobby Engram Simon J. "Bobby" Engram III (born January 7, 1973) is an American professional football coach and former wide receiver who is the wide receivers coach for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). Engram played college fo ...
, NFL player *
Vonnie Holliday Dimetry Giovonni Holliday (born December 11, 1975) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the North Carolina Tar Heels and was selected by ...
, NFL player * Lorenzo James, 19th-century politician * Joseph Brevard Kershaw (1822–1894), lawyer, judge and general *
Lane Kirkland Joseph Lane Kirkland (March 12, 1922 – August 14, 1999) was an American labor union leader who served as President of the AFL–CIO from 1979 to 1995. Life and career Kirkland was born in Camden, South Carolina, the son of Louise Beardsley (Ri ...
(1922–1999), union leader of
AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...
*
Michael Kohn Michael Thomas Kohn (born June 26, 1986) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels in the 13th round (409th overall) of the 2008 Major League Baseball draft after playing college baseball at t ...
,
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
player *
Kathleen Parker Kathleen Parker (born 1951/1952) is a columnist for ''The Washington Post''. Parker is a consulting faculty member at the Buckley School of Public Speaking, a popular guest on cable and network news programs and a regular guest on NBC's ''Meet t ...
, journalist, winner of 2010 Pulitzer Prize for commentary; resident of Camden *
Vincent Sheheen Vincent Austin Sheheen (born April 29, 1971) is an American attorney and politician. He was a member of the South Carolina Senate from 2004 to 2020, representing the 27th District, which comprises Chesterfield, Kershaw, and Lancaster counties ...
,
state senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...
and 2010 Democratic nominee for
governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
* Mendel L. Smith, politician and judge who served as
Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives The speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the South Carolina House of Representatives, whose main role is to ensure that general order is maintained in the house by recognizing members to speak, ensurin ...
https://kershawcountyhistoricalsociety.org/2013/10/20/october-program-mendel-l-smith-legislator-judge/ *
Jacqueline Van Landingham Jacqueline Elaine Keys Van Landingham (ca 1962 – March 8, 1995) was an African Americans, African-American intelligence officer employed by the Central Intelligence Agency. In 1995 she was killed in Karachi, Pakistan by armed gunmen while enro ...
, Central Intelligence Agency officer * Scipio Vaughan, former slave and founder of the influential
Vaughan family The Vaughan family is a Nigerian American family with branches on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. In Nigeria, it has links to the Nigerian chieftaincy system and the Nigerian bourgeoisie, while in America, it belongs to the African-American uppe ...
in the United States and
Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
. * John C. West, Governor of South Carolina (1971–1975) *
Lois Rhame West Lois Rhame West (September 5, 1921 – May 6, 2014) was an American health and physical fitness advocate, activist, and philanthropist. She served as First Lady of South Carolina from 1971 until 1975 during the administration of her husband, Gover ...
, First Lady of South Carolina (1971–1975), first woman to chair the
Muscular Dystrophy Association Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) is an American nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting people living with muscular dystrophy, ALS, and related Neuromuscular disease, neuromuscular diseases. Founded in 1950 by Paul Cohen, who lived wi ...
. * Johnson Chesnut Whittaker (1858–1931), one of the first black men to win an appointment to the
United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...
at
West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...
*
Richie Williams Richard "Richie" Williams (born June 3, 1970) is an American soccer coach and former player who is currently the head coach of MLS Next Pro side New England Revolution II. Known for his diminutive height and his dogged tackling, Williams spen ...
,
CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division and five in the West Division. The CFL is the highest pr ...
player * Samuel E. Wright, actor and Broadway performer * Shawn Elliott, Head Collegiate Coach, Georgia State University


See also

* List of historic landmarks in Camden, South Carolina


References


Further reading

* Inabelt, Joan & L. Glen Inabinet, ''A History of Kershaw County, South Carolina''. (University of South Carolina Press, 2011). 718 pg. See pp. 90, 237, 271, 328, 398, 427,431, 433, 538, 558–59. * Lewis, Kenneth E. ''The Carolina Backcountry Venture: Tradition, Capital, and Circumstance in the Development of Camden and the Wateree Valley, 1740—1810'' (University of South Carolina Press, 2017). xviii, 436 pp. * Stokes, Karen D., ed. "Sherman's Army Comes to Camden: The Civil War Narrative of Sarah Dehon Trapier", ''South Carolina Historical Magazine,'' 109 (April 2008), 95–120.


External links


Official website

Historic Camden

Kershaw County Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center
{{Authority control Cities in South Carolina Cities in Kershaw County, South Carolina County seats in South Carolina Populated places established in 1732 Columbia metropolitan area (South Carolina)