Historic Camden Revolutionary War Restoration

National Register Listing

Street Address:

Southern area of the city, DeKalb Township, Camden, SC (Kershaw County)

Alternate Name:

Kershaw-Cornwallis House, British Revolutionary War Fortifications

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NRHP Nomination

Record Number:

S10817728002

Description and Narrative:

(Kershaw-Cornwallis House) The district concerned was central colonial Camden and its adjacent outlying areas. During British occupation, Camden consisted of two city blocks of period homes and military barracks surrounded by a palisade log fence and further protected by five redoubt and three other fortified features (a house, a jail, and a powder magazine) which were placed strategically from 100 to 1000 feet outside the town itself. Because of war and fire, all original buildings in the district have been destroyed, and much of it remains open. At the time of nomination, extensive archaeological restoration of the powder magazine site (not the building itself) and the foundation of the fortified house (used as British headquarters for Lord Cornwallis and Lord Rawdon and the home of the town’s founder, Joseph Kershaw) have been effected without destroying their historical integrity. Camden’s significance in the Revolutionary War is directly related to the British War Office’s decision of late 1779 to establish total control over the southern colonies. Camden served as the main British supply post from spring 1780 to spring 1781 and also proved to be their garrison for two major Revolutionary War engagements, the Battles of Camden and Hobkirk Hill. The fall of Camden was a pivotal point in the eventual defeat of the British. Listed in the National Register July 29, 1969.

Period of Significance:

1781

Level of Significance:

National

Area of Significance:

Politics/Government;Engineering;Military

National Register Determination:

listed

Date of Certification:

July 29 1969

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