Most of Camden was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. 2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 19 buildings. Below: maps from 1894 on and the census since 1850.
The Camden post office opened in 1842, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Wilcox (1832), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 800 in 18502020 census: 1,927184 years
How historic is Camden?
B
More historic than 62% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Camden post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Camden’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Camden is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Camden’s overall grade.
Alabama towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Alabama town has 2.7 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Camden’s 111 sits above most of its state (83% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 20 historic buildings outnumber those of 79% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share (±1.5 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Camden’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost a third of its people between 1850 and 1900, then grew 4-fold.
16 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Camden’s Wikipedia page.
Every building
Camden, building by building, 1894–1925
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1894Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
What is now Camden was established on property donated by Thomas Dunn from his plantation holdings in order to have a new town founded on the site in 1833 to serve as the county seat. Dunn's Federal style house, built in 1825, is the oldest documented house in the town. The first county seat was in the community of Canton Bend.
The county seat was moved in 1833 to Barboursville, later renamed Camden. It had been named Barboursville in honor of United States Congressman Philip P. Barbour of Virginia. Incorporated in 1841, Camden was renamed by local physician John D. Caldwell in honor of his hometown of Camden, South Carolina.
Camden’s post office has been open since 1842. Another post office, Wilcox, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Wilcox
1832–1842
Camden
1842–today
18301930today
Gone or out of use
Womens Board of United Presbyterian Church Schoolschool
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Camden’s history
What year was Camden founded?
The Camden post office opened in 1842, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Camden rank for history?
Camden is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Camden?
Two places: the Wilcox Female Institute (listed 1975) and the Wilcox County Courthouse Historic District (1979).
How old are the homes in Camden?
1% of Camden’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.5 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1976.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
