Old Camden Courthouse and Gaol
On this site stood the original Camden District Courthouse and gaol (jail), built in response to increased lawlessness in the South Carolina backcountry. Construction was completed in 1771 and the first term of criminal court convened shortly afterward. The jail stood across the Great Wagon Road (Waxhaw Road) from the courthouse. The first courthouse was probably a one-room wooden building which burned in 1779. The two stories and basement of the brick jail housed criminals and runaway slaves. During the American Revolution both sides confined prisoners here, including teenaged future president Andrew Jackson, who was captured by the British in April 1781. The British fortified the jail in the summer of 1780 and burned it when they evacuated Camden in May 1781. Both the courthouse and jail were rebuilt on the same sites after the war. The second jail burned in 1812 and was replaced by the public market. The second courthouse was replaced in 1825 by the Greek-revival style building designed by architect Robert Mills.
“For the apprehending and bringing to Gaol, A. Westbury, who … burnt the Courthouse and set fire to the Gaol ~ $100 Dolls.” Expense Claim of Joseph Kershaw, March 11, 1789
Marker is on Broad Street, on the left when traveling north.
Courtesy hmdb.org
