Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns · #8 of 468 in New Jersey. What drives it
44 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Walt Whitman House, a National Historic Landmark, and five historic districts with 1,974 buildings between them. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1840.
Camden dates its founding to 1623 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1840.
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Camden is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #8 of 468 in New Jersey. All 3 inputs put Camden near the top nationally; its age ranks highest.
New Jersey towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New Jersey town has 3.7 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Camden’s 282 sits above most of its state (92% of New Jersey towns have fewer) while its 2,015 historic buildings outnumber those of 99% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveCamden ferry yard, at right, looking toward Philadelphia
In the archive1867 Thanksgiving SouthCamden NewJersey
In the archive1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - New Jersey (NJ) - Camden County - Camden - ED 24-…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveJoseph Campbell Preserve Co. Camden, NJ 1894
In the archiveSoldiers' Monument and Armory Camden, N.J
BuiltNational State Bank is builtBuiltCooper Library in Johnson Park is built
In the archiveGeorge Washington at Valley Forge 1918 by Carlo Abate
BuiltBroadway Trust Company is built
BuiltBuilding at 525 Cooper Street is built
Born hereLola Falana is born hereFrom Wikipedia’s history of Camden.
The city traces back to local indigenous Lenape, who are believed to have inhabited this area 13–15,000 years prior to the first European settlers.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Camden, cut from the printed page as they were published.
After eighteen years of successful business in this line, during which they erected hundreds of buildings in Camden and Philadelphia, they concluded to embark in a new enterprise. They now purchased the brickyard of John Stone, located at City Line station, on what was then the Camden-Atlantic Railroad, but is now known as the West Jersey and Seashore
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The town of Camden having been incorporated into a city upon the thirteenth of February, 1828,'*'' it was found advisable soon after to sever it entirely from Newton, and give it separate township capacities, and Camden was therefore established as a constablewick on the twenty-eighth of November, 1831. f As
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
extending from Cooper Street to near Arch Street and from the Delaware River to near Sixth Street, and named it “The Plan of the Town of Camden.” The place is said to have been named in honor of Sir John Pratt, then Lord Camden (Lord Chancellor in the early part of the reign of George III.), who, with Lord Chatham, eloquently advocated the cause
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
7 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Camden. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Camden.
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.
1885Sheet 1 of 23Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Camden’s page.
Retake this view · +15Peaked at 124,555 in 1950; 71,791 people lived here in 2020.
19 censuses, 1840–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Camden’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Camden’s post office has been open since 1829. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1623, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Camden’s post office opened in 1802, and the census of 1840 counted 3,371 people here.
Camden is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #8 of 468 in New Jersey. 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.
44 listings: 38 buildings, among them the Walt Whitman House (a National Historic Landmark since 1962), 5 historic districts with 1,974 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 2,015 historic buildings in all.
38% of Camden’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.5 points), against a typical 15% for a New Jersey town; the median home was built in 1950.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (11), Wikidata (7), the National Register of Historic Places (44), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1856
1899
1909
1919
1920
