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Camden-on-Gauley, West Virginia - panoramio - IdawriterPhoto: Idawriter · CC BY-SA 3.0
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History · Camden-on-Gauley

Camden-on-Gauley’s post office opened in 1893

Most of Camden-on-Gauley was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: maps from 1915 on and the census since 1910.

1893first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Idawriter · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Camden-on-Gauley began

When was Camden-on-Gauley founded?

1893

The Camden-on-Gauley post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Lanes Bottom (1874), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 263 in 19102020 census: 126133 years
Founding year: the first Camden-on-Gauley post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Camden-on-Gauley’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Camden-on-Gauley are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 435 in 1930; 126 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19154 editions of the USGS map, 1915 to 1995. Watch Camden-on-Gauley change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Camden-on-Gauley’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Camden-on-Gauley’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Camden-on-Gauley, census by census

0100200300400192019401960198020002020Peak: 435

Peaked at 435 in 1930; 126 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Camden-on-Gauley’s Wikipedia page.

On the map

Camden-on-Gauley on the map, 1915 to 1995

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Camden-on-Gauley. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Camden-on-Gauley on the 1915 USGS mapCamden-on-Gauley on the 1966 USGS mapCamden-on-Gauley on the 1982 USGS mapCamden-on-Gauley on the 1995 USGS map1915Cowen sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Camden-on-Gauley.

The story so far

Camden-on-Gauley, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Camden-on-Gauley yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Camden-on-Gauley is a town in Webster County, West Virginia, United States, along the Gauley River. The population was 126 at the 2020 census. The town derives its name from Johnson N. Camden, a senator who was the proprietor of several businesses on the nearby Gauley River. The town was originally called Lanes Bottom, but was changed to Camden-on-Gauley when incorporated in 1904.

Its first post office opened in 1893. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 169 to 126 (-25%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Camden-on-Gauley, 1874 to 1930

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1874Post officeThe Lanes Bottom post office opens
  3. 1893Post officeThe Camden On Gauley post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1915Post officeThe Lanes Bottom post office closes
  6. 1915On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1916Born hereLeo "Muscle" Shoals is born here
  8. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 435
By decade

Camden-on-Gauley, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Camden-on-Gauley, West Virginia2016Camden-on-Gauley, West VirginiaCamden-on-Gauley, West Virginia - panoramio - Idawriter2016Camden-on-Gauley, West Virginia - panoramio - Idawrit…Bethel Methodist Church2016Bethel Methodist ChurchWVMap-doton-Camden-on-Gauley2004WVMap-doton-Camden-on-Gauley
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Another post office, Lanes Bottom, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Lanes Bottom
1874–1915
Camden On Gauley
1893–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Camden on Gauley

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Camden-on-Gauley’s history

What year was Camden-on-Gauley founded?

The Camden-on-Gauley post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (4), 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.