Start here · Essential guide
Camden in the Colonial Era: Ferries, Farms and the Delaware
An overview of the New Jersey shore opposite Philadelphia before Camden was a city: West Jersey landholding, Quaker families, ferries and farms.
Place and Past
Colonial Era and River Origins
How the Delaware shore became a settled ferry town before the city existed.
Becoming a City: Municipal Incorporation in the Early 1800s
What incorporation meant for a growing river town: how New Jersey chartered Camden in 1828, what a charter allowed, and what it did not change.
Early River Crossings and the Ferry Trade
How ferries carried people, livestock and produce between the New Jersey shore and Philadelphia before bridges, and what shaped the crossing.
Farms and Market Gardens of Early South Jersey
How farms in early South Jersey supplied Philadelphia markets across the Delaware, why the soils and the ferries mattered, and how the trade changed.
From Gloucester County to Camden County: How Boundaries Changed
How Gloucester County was divided in the 1800s to create Camden County in 1844, why county lines were redrawn, and how to trace boundary changes.
Reading Colonial Maps and Surveys of the Delaware Shore
What early maps and land surveys of the Delaware shore show about farms, meadows, creeks and roads, and how to read their scales, bearings and limits.
The Cooper Family and Early Landholding on the Delaware
How the Cooper family's land and ferry on the New Jersey shore shaped early settlement and the street pattern that became Camden, with limits on the evidence.
The Lenape and the Land Before Colonization
An introduction to the Lenape homeland along the Delaware, their way of life before colonization, their continuing presence, and respectful ways to learn more.
The Revolutionary War Around Camden and Philadelphia
How the Philadelphia campaign of 1777 and 1778 reached the New Jersey shore: the British occupation, the Delaware forts, Red Bank, and local divisions.
Where the Name Camden Comes From
The commonly told story behind the name Camden, its link to Charles Pratt, Earl Camden, and how place names are chosen and sometimes retold.
Related topics
More in place and past
History and Heritage The past of Camden from river founding through industrial decline. The Waterfront The Delaware riverfront past and present. Neighborhoods and Living Housing, neighborhoods and daily life. Industry and Shipbuilding The factories, yards and railways that made Camden a manufacturing city. Walt Whitman and Literary Camden The poet last home and the writing culture of the region.