About Camden, NJ

Camden is a city in Camden County, New Jersey. Camden is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2010 United States Census, the city had a population of 77,344. Camden is the 12th most populous municipality in New Jersey. The city was incorporated on February 13, 1828. On March 13, 1844, Camden became a county seat in New Jersey. The city derives its name from Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden. Camden is made up of over twenty different neighborhoods.

By the end of the nineteenth century Camden began to industrialize with the foundation of the Campbell Soup Company by Joseph Campbell. Other companies such as the New York Shipbuilding Corporation and the Victor Talking Machine Company opened their operations and helped Camden move into an industrial economy. At the beginning of the twentieth century Camden's population consisted mostly of European immigrants. German, British, and Irish immigrants, as well as African Americans from the south made up the majority of the city in the mid nineteenth century. Around the turn of the twentieth century Italian and Eastern European immigrants had become the majority of the population.

The city was consistently prosperous throughout the Great Depression and World War II. After World War II Camden manufacturers began closing their factories and moving out of the city. Camden's cultural history has been greatly affected by both its economic and social position over the years. With the loss of manufacturing jobs came a sharp decline in population. Suburbanization also had an effect on the drop in population. Civil unrest and crime became common in Camden with the decline in population. Most notable of these crimes were the Camden riots of 1971. The riots came in response to the death of Horacio Jimenez, a Puerto Rican motorist who was killed by two white police officers.