Front Description
The Gaol or Jail
The first jail in Camden was built by order of the South Carolina Commons House of Assembly in 1771. The wooden jail house stood on this location until being burned by the British as they evacuated Camden in 1781. Its replacement, located near the northwest corner of Church and King Streets, was destroyed in the fire of 1812. The next jail, built in 1832, was a substantial, handsome building believed to have been designed by architect Robert Mills. History repeated itself in 1865 when General William T. Sherman’s troops invaded Camden and torched the 1832 jail.
The Town Market and Clock Tower:
Camden’s first town market, built by 1791, stood on the northwest corner of Bull and Market Streets. After that building burned in the fire of 1812, the city relocated the market to this site. This “handsome brick market” had an open-air ground floor. The second floor held the town hall, which was also used as Town Council chambers, as a Sunday School for all denominations, and by the Library Society. The city erected the town clock next to the market between 1822 and 1824. The tower stood 118 feet tall and was adorned by the town clock in 1824 and the King Hagler weather vane in 1826. The market and the clock tower escaped the disastrous fire of 1829 and, in 1859, the city moved the market to the heart of the business district near the corner of Broad and Rutledge Streets.
Site Photos
