History of Camden, New Jersey starts with the introduction of Quakers into the native lands of the Lenape population in the Delaware Valley. Throughout the city's history there have been times of economic growth and development; as well as stagnation and decline. The City of Camden was named after Camden County, which was named for Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden, who was a civil libertarian, promoter of the American cause, and a British judge and lawyer. The city was incorporated on February 13, 1828.Snyder, John P. The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606–1968, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 104. Accessed January 17, 2012.
The current demographics show Camden to currently be in a population decline, economic decline, and crime rate decline. Once known for violent crime statistics, Camden has seen a decrease in this number since restructuring their police force. Some major changes that have created economic decline revolve around the history of major employers and their interaction with the local population, the changes war brought to the United States over the decades, changes in the crime rates, and the changing face of population demographics. There is an extensive history of cultural growth that includes a location that was once a stop on the Underground Railroad located at the Macedonia African Methodist Episcopal Church, the grave and home of Walt Whitman, as well as the growth and development of multiple higher-education campuses. In recent years, the development of groups like Camden Community Partnership and Cooper's Ferry Partnership are working in the community for change, including the development of new parks.
Revitalization projects have been met with limited success. Destruction of low-income housing options for business and city development has also limited the availability of housing in the city. The construction of the Ben Franklin Bridge is one event that impacted the face of housing in the northern sections of Camden in the 1920s. Not only was low-income housing destroyed during this construction, but the city was also effectively split by the addition of the highway leading up to the bridge, as well.
As the former home of many manufacturing companies, Camden has had a major impact on the history of the county, state, and country. This impact is such that it has defined itself as a city in its own right and not just a suburb of the larger Philadelphia, which is located just across the Delaware River to the west. Some of the important parts of American history that parallel Camden history include: the changes of gender roles in factories as the war pulled men overseas; the changes of minority demographics as the Civil War moved slavery out of the norm, and civil rights changed the face of segregation; and, finally, the impact of immigration on the populations that settled here and how they grouped together as families and ethnicity groups.
Early history
In 1626, Fort Nassau was established by the Dutch West India Company at the confluence of Big Timber Creek and the Delaware River. Throughout the 17th century, Europeans settled along the Delaware, competing to control the local fur trade. After the Restoration in 1660, the land around Camden was controlled by nobles serving under King Charles II, until it was sold off to a group of New Jersey Quakers in 1673.Early Settlement, City of Camden. Accessed November 6, 2023. "Following the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, King Charles II granted all the lands between the Delaware and Connecticut Rivers to his brother, the Duke of York. In turn, the Duke of York gave a portion of these lands between the Hudson and Delaware River (New Jersey) to two loyal courtiers, Sir George Carteret and Lord John Berkeley. Soon after, Berkeley was beset by financial problems and in 1673 sold his half of New Jersey to Quakers John Fenwick and Edward Byllynge." The area developed further when a ferry system was established along the east side of the Delaware River to facilitate trade between Fort Nassau and Philadelphia, the growing capital of the Quaker colony of Pennsylvania directly across the river. By the 1700s, Quakers and the Lenni Lenape Native Americans were coexisting. The Quakers' expansion and use of natural resources, in addition to the introduction of alcohol and infectious disease, diminished the Lenape's population in the area.
Camden's Earliest Colonial Developers: The Cooper Family
Aside from a period in which some small houses lined the Delaware river near the ferries which carried goods from Western New Jersey to Philadelphia for trade purposes, the first major colonial settlement in the Camden area was established by William Cooper . An English Quaker born in 1632, Cooper emigrated with his wife and children to America in 1679 as a means of avoiding religious persecution in England and with the hopes of participating in the development of a settlement along the Delaware river – a project which was being headed by William Penn, a Quaker leader and fellow member of the Upperside Monthly Meeting of the Society of Friends. Cooper purchased several acres of land in Burlington, New Jersey upon his arrival in 1679 then procured an expanse of land across the Delaware river from Kensington, Philadelphia (then called Shackamaxon) in 1682 and moved himself and his family to Cooper’s Point, where he had his permanent home built.
Throughout the course of his life in the Southern New Jersey area, William Cooper consistently contributed to the transfer and development of land by English and Irish colonial settlers. In 1682, Cooper was said to be present at the Treaty of Penn in which William Penn famously established a vow of friendship with the Native Americans of the area (though the occurrence of this event is disputed and a lack of paper records documenting it has led some to doubt its authenticity). After serving for a number of years as commissioner for the division of lands and acting as an attorney for Quakers interested in purchasing lands surrounding the Delaware river, he was appointed as the judge of the County Court of Gloucester. In 1710, Cooper died in Delaware county. After his death, Cooper’s descendants continued to acquire land and develop it through the construction of farms and buildings that formed the most developed tracts of the entire Southern New Jersey area.
The 1688 order of the County Court of Gloucester that sanctioned ferries between New Jersey and Philadelphia was: "Therefore we permit and appoint that a common passage or ferry for man or beast be provided, fixed and settled in some convenient and proper place between ye mouths or entrance of Cooper's Creek and Newton Creek, and that the government, managing and keeping of ye same be committed to ye said William Roydon and his assigns, who are hereby empowered and appointed to establish, fix and settle ye same within ye limits aforesaid, wherein all other persons are desired and requested to keep no other common or public passage or ferry." The ferry system was located along Cooper Street and was turned over to Daniel Cooper in 1695.History, City of Camden. Accessed July 26, 2018.The Ferry Industry, City of Camden. Accessed April 26, 2022. Its creation resulted in a series of small settlements along the river, largely established by three families: the Coopers, the Kaighns, and the Mickels, and these lands would eventually be combined to create the future city. Of these, the Cooper family had the greatest impact on the formation of Camden. In 1773, Jacob Cooper developed some of the land he had inherited through his family into a "townsite," naming it Camden after Charles Pratt, the Earl of Camden.
19th century
For over 150 years, Camden served as a secondary economic and transportation hub for the Philadelphia area. However, that status began to change in the early 19th century. Camden was incorporated as a city on February 13, 1828, from portions of Newton Township, while the area was still part of Gloucester County. In 1832, Camden Township was created as a township coextensive with Camden City. The township existed until it was repealed in 1848.
One of the U.S.'s first railroads, the Camden and Amboy Railroad, was chartered in Camden in 1830. The Camden and Amboy Railroad allowed travelers to travel between New York City and Philadelphia via ferry terminals in South Amboy, New Jersey and Camden. The railroad terminated on the Camden Waterfront, and passengers were ferried across the Delaware River to their final Philadelphia destination. The Camden and Amboy Railroad opened in 1834 and helped to spur an increase in population and commerce in Camden.Greenberg, Gail. "County History" , Camden County, New Jersey. Accessed July 3, 2011.
Horse ferries, or team boats, served Camden in the early 1800s. The ferries connected Camden and other South Jersey towns to Philadelphia. Ferry systems allowed Camden to generate business and economic growth. "These businesses included lumber dealers, manufacturers of wooden shingles, pork sausage manufacturers, candle factories, coachmaker shops that manufactured carriages and wagons, tanneries, blacksmiths and harness makers." Originally a suburban town with ferry service to Philadelphia, Camden evolved into its own city. Until 1844, Camden was a part of Gloucester County. In 1840 the city's population had reached 3,371 and Camden appealed to state legislature, which resulted in the creation of Camden County in 1844.
The poet Walt Whitman spent his later years in Camden. He bought a house on Mickle Street in March 1884. Whitman spent the remainder of his life in Camden and died in 1892 of a stroke. Whitman was a prominent member of the Camden community at the end of the nineteenth century.
Camden quickly became an industrialized city in the latter half of the nineteenth century. In 1860 Census takers recorded eighty factories in the city and the number of factories grew to 125 by 1870. Camden began to industrialize in 1891 when Joseph Campbell incorporated his business Campbell's Soup. Through the Civil War era Camden gained a large immigrant population which formed the base of its industrial workforce. Between 1870 and 1920 Camden's population grew by 96,000 people due to the large influx of immigrants. Like other industrial cities, Camden prospered during strong periods of manufacturing demand and faced distress during periods of economic dislocation."Rutgers University Computing Services – Camden".
Early 20th century
At the turn of the 20th century, Camden became an industrialized city. At the height of Camden's industrialization, 12,000 workers were employed at RCA Victor,O'Reilly, David. "An RCA museum grows at Rowan", The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 27, 2013. Accessed October 13, 2015. " Radio Corp. of America's "contributions to South Jersey were enormous," said Joseph Pane, deputy director of the RCA Heritage Program at Rowan, which he helped create.'At its peak in the 1960s, it (RCA) employed 12,000 people; 4,500 were engineers.'" while another 30,000 worked at New York Shipbuilding.New York Shipbuilding, Camden NJ , Shipbuilding History, March 17, 2014. Accessed October 13, 2015. "At its peak, New York Ship employed 30,000 people. It continued in both naval and merchant shipbuilding after WWII but closed in 1967." Camden Forge Company supplied materials for New York Ship during both world wars. RCA had 23 out of 25 of its factories inside Camden, and the Campbell's was also a major employer."Made in S.J.: Campbell Soup Co.". Portal to gallery of photographs (20) related to The Campbell Soup Company. Courier-Post. Undated. Accessed December 25, 2009. In addition to major corporations, Camden also housed many small manufacturing companies as well as commercial offices.