South Carolina Department of Archives and History
National Register Properties in South Carolina

Historic Camden Revolutionary War Restoration, Kershaw County (U.S. Hwy. 521/601, Camden)
S1081772800201 S1081772800202 S1081772800203 S1081772800204 S1081772800205
Historic Camden
Site
Historic Camden
Site
Historic Camden
Site
Kerhsaw-Cornwallis
House, n.d.
Kershaw-Cornwallis
House, Rebuilt
ca. 1977
S1081772800206 S1081772800207 S1081772800208 S1081772800209 S1081772800210
Bradley House Craven House Cunningham House Excavations at
Kershaw-Cornwallis
House, ca. 1968
Powder Magazine site
Rebuilt foundations
ca. 1973
S1081772800211        
Reconstructed Moat
and Breastwork
Norhteast Redoubt
ca. 1971

(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.

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