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History of Camden County, Georgia
John L. Kissinger has written an article for the New Georgia Encyclopedia on
the History of Camden County and I doubt that I can do a better job of writing
one thus please proceed to read his article
here.
A short piece of the article is shown below:
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Camden County is the southernmost county on the Georgia
coast. Created by the Georgia Constitution of February 5, 1777,
 it
is the state's eighth original county. Camden County combined the
colonial parishes of St. Thomas and St. Mary with lands ceded by the
Creek Indians. In 1854 the state legislature incorporated land from
Camden County to create
Charlton County. Camden County is named for Charles Pratt, earl of
Camden (1714-94), chief justice and lord chancellor of England who
supported the American colonies before the Revolution.
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| Camden County Courthouse |
The town of St. Patrick, on the south side of Great Satilla River, was
selected as the first county seat in 1787. In 1792 the seat was moved to
St. Marys, and in 1800 to Jefferson (later called Jeffersonton),
which was at or near the site of St. Patrick. In 1802 a courthouse and
jail were built in Jeffersonton. Until the Civil War the community
thrived, owing to a large number of plantations along the river
cultivating
rice, cotton, corn, and other products. With the collapse of the
plantation economy after the war, Jeffersonton declined and was mostly
abandoned. Today it is considered a dead town, although several families
still own homes in the area. In 1872 the county seat returned to St.
Marys, where it remained until 1923, when it was moved to its current
location in Woodbine. |
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