Early Camden, 1830-32

Early Camden, 1830-32. . , (right panel) This c1830 painting of early Camden is the work of Camden native Isaac Brownfield Alexander (1812-1884). The artist painted this work from a location in Historic Camden Foundation's present-day parking lot, just north of Wateree Street. The extreme southern part of Camden is where the first land grants were received by Joseph Kershaw on behalf of his business partners. Wateree Street ran through the middle of this land, becoming the earliest settled part of town. Isaac Brownfield Alexander may have painted this town scene near the old Kershaw and Co. store., The large, two-story house at the right of the painting is the town house built by Joseph Kershaw about the time of the Revolutionary War. Begun just prior to 1776, the large house was not completed until after the war. During the occupation of Camden by the British, General Lord Cornwallis used the spacious dwelling as his headquarters. The Kershaw House stood until it burned during the Civil War. The present-day house is a reproduction of the original which stands on the exact spot of the first house., The Kershaw House faced Lyttleton Street. The painting shows the militia muster on the open fields of the lower part of town below Bull Street. Notable in the landscape is the edifice that appears to be a church steeple. Actually the old town clock tower; it stood across from the Robert Mills Courthouse on Broad Street. In 1859, a new clock tower was built near the intersection of Rutledge and Broad Streets., (left panel) Early Camden, 1830-32 , by Isaac Brownfield Alexander, A - Intersection of Bull and Broad Streets , B - Blue House , C - Broad Street , D - Clock Tower , E - Market Street , F - Dwelling house on Bull Street , G - Lyttleton Street , H - Kershaw House - You are here ,