Camden dates to 1783, and 5 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns · #14 of 37 in Delaware. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 65 buildings. Most of Camden was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2001. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1930 on, and the census since 1870.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1810.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 71% of U.S. towns, #14 of 37 in Delaware. 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.
Delaware towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Delaware town has 29.4 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Camden’s 168 sits above most of its state (74% of Delaware towns have fewer) while its 69 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1783.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.8 points).
Founding year: Wikipedia (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.
Camden was established in 1783 as a community originally known as Mifflin's Crossroads. The community of Mifflin's Crossroads was a Quaker settlement laid out by Daniel Mifflin on the Piccadilly tract. The town originally gained some commercial trade through wharves in nearby Forest Landing and Lebanon on the St. Jones River. From these wharves, regular boat service connected the area to Philadelphia and New York City, with local merchants shipping cordwood, staves, grain, and Spanish-oak bark. The Delaware Railroad was built through nearby Wyoming in the 1850s and expanded the market for local farm products, bringing increased prosperity to Camden. The town has numerous historic properties and part of it is designated as the Camden Historic District. In addition, Brecknock, Camden Friends Meetinghouse, Star Hill AME Church, and Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church are all listed ind…
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
In 1783, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Camden’s post office opened in 1810, and the census of 1870 counted 657 people here.
How does Camden rank for history?
Camden is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #14 of 37 in Delaware. 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?
5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Camden Friends Meetinghouse (listed 1973, the first), and 1 historic district, the Camden Historic District, with 65 contributing buildings. 69 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Camden?
5% of Camden’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.8 points), against a typical 5.9% for a Delaware town; the median home was built in 2001.
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 Wikimedia Commons (5), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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