Camden County, Georgia
Encyclopedia
Camden County is a county located in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

. It is one of the original counties of Georgia, created February 5, 1777. As of 2000, the population was 43,664. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 48,689. The county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

 is Woodbine
Woodbine, Georgia
Woodbine is a city in, and the county seat of, Camden County, Georgia, United States. The city is situated in the center of the county, which located in the southeast corner of the state near the Florida border, and the population was 1,218 at the 2000 census....

.

History

The first European to land on what is today Camden County was Captain Jean Ribault
Jean Ribault
Jean Ribault was a French naval officer, navigator, and a colonizer of what would become the southeastern United States. He was a major figure in the French attempts to colonize Florida...

 of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 in 1562. Ribault was sent out by French Huguenots to find a suitable place for a settlement. Ribault named the rivers he saw the Seine and the Some. Today these rivers, the former of which forms the southern border of Camden County, are known as the St. Marys and Satilla Rivers. Ribault described the area as, "Fairest, fruitfulest and pleasantest of all the world."

Spanish missionaries

In 1565, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 became alarmed by the French settlements and sent out a large force to take over and settle the area. The Spanish held the area for the next 100 years. During that time, the Spaniards attempted to convert all the native Indians they came across to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

. One Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....

 party built a mission in what is now St. Marys. The missionaries received permission to build by the Indian Queen Hiacaia, the ruler over a large Indian village in the area.

After many years, the Spaniards abandoned the settlements due to troubles with the Indians. The Indians had risen up against the Spanish and slaughtered many of the priests. After the abandonment, the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 felt the area was now open to their claims. During this time, Spain also continued to claim the area. They lost their claim in 1742 during the decisive Battle of Bloody Marsh
Battle of Bloody Marsh
The Battle of Bloody Marsh took place on July 18, 1742 between Spanish and British forces, and the latter were victorious. Part of the War of Jenkin's Ear, the battle was for control of the road between the British forts of Frederica and St. Simons, to control St. Simons Island and the forts'...

 (off St. Simons Island).

Oglethorpe

General Oglethorpe
James Oglethorpe
James Edward Oglethorpe was a British general, member of Parliament, philanthropist, and founder of the colony of Georgia...

 had quite an influence in this area aside from leading battles. He founded a town on St. Simons Island called Frederica, named after a member of the royal family. Oglethorpe designed the town of Savannah
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...

 and his work can still be seen in the historic district. He was at Cumberland Island
Cumberland Island
Cumberland Island is one of the Sea Islands. Cumberland is the largest in terms of continuously exposed land area of Georgia's barrier islands. It is located on the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the U.S. state of Georgia and is part of Camden County...

 when an Indian gave the barrier island its name. Later, he erected a hunting lodge on Cumberland named Dungeness, which was predecessor to the famous Greene and Carnegie Dungeness Mansions. He also founded St. Andrews Fort on the north end of Cumberland Island as well as a strong battery, Fort Williams, on the south end. Fort Williams commanded the entrance to the St. Marys River.

In 1763, Spain, under a treaty of peace with England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, ceded Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 to Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...

. After this, the boundaries of Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

 were extended from the Altamaha (now the southern boundary of McIntosh County) to the St. Marys River (the current southern boundary of Camden). In 1765, four towns were laid off between the Altamaha and St. Marys Rivers. These were St. Davids, St. Patricks, St. Marys and St. Thomas. The Parish of Camden, named for Charles Pratt, Earl of Camden in England, was then formed from the St. Marys and St. Thomas townships. At first, the community of St. Patrick was the County Seat of Camden. Later, the county seat was moved further south to St. Marys.

The American Revolution

Georgia was the last state to join in the War for Independence
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

 in 1775. It was then that the people renamed the area Camden County.

During this time, the brothers of Governor Wright of Georgia, Charles and German Wright - who were English Loyalists - built a fort on their land. The brothers built this fort, which was on the St. Marys River, in order to protect their land during the war. Wright's Fort became a rendezvous for a group of loyalists called the "Florida Rangers". They robbed many south Georgians and stored their loot in Wright's Fort.

Two skirmishes were fought by Loyalist and Continental forces over Wright's Fort, and both times American troops failed to rout the Loyalists from the area. Finally, retreating British soldiers burned it down in 1778. The Americans rebuilt it when they invaded East Florida, and then burned it down to prevent it falling into enemy hands. The remains were finally discovered in 1975.

By 1783, the British had lost the war and turned Florida over to the Spanish. The English loyalists came home to Camden to find that their property had become property of the state. Despite the population loss during the war, abandoned settlements were soon repopulated, and the area recovered as people were again drawn to the rich Camden County land.

War of 1812

The coastal town of St. Marys, Georgia
St. Marys, Georgia
-See also:*Cumberland Island*St. Marys Historic District*St. Marys Railroad-External links:***...

, within Camden County, was the region of a small battle known as the Battle of St. Marys. The British achieved victory and thus captured and occupied the town for a couple weeks.

The Civil War

During the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, Camden sent out two companies of infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 to fight in the Confederate Army. This was a huge amount of men to leave such a sparsely populated area. At the beginning of the Civil War, the population was 5,482 of which only 1,721 were white. The war devastated the area. Several families lost their sons in the fighting.

Legacy

After the War, especially during Reconstruction, the local residents learned to live without slave labor and eventually began to prosper again. Even so, many plantation owners left the area, leaving only their slaves, their dead and their name. Today, their influence can be seen by the surnames of local African American families such as the Parrishes and the Holzendorfs.

Camden County seemed able to deal with the changes easier than some other areas. By the turn of the century, about half the land in the county was owned by blacks. The freeing of the slaves appears to be yet another change that the blacks and whites of this county dealt with in a relatively positive manner. Integration in the 1960s was peaceful.

Chemicals

On February 3, 1971, a fire and explosion
Thiokol-Woodbine Explosion
The Thiokol-Woodbine Explosion occurred at 10:53 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, February 3, 1971, at the Thiokol chemical plant, southeast of Woodbine, Georgia, and north of Jacksonville, Florida, when large quantities of flares and their components in building M-132 were ignited by a fire and detonation...

 occurred at the Thiokol Chemical plant
Thiokol
Thiokol is a U.S. corporation concerned initially with rubber and related chemicals, and later with rocket and missile propulsion systems...

, located 12 miles southeast of Woodbine. The industrial accident killed 29 workers and seriously injured 50 others.

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 782.52 square miles (2,026.7 km²), of which 629.91 square miles (1,631.5 km²) (or 80.50%) is land and 152.61 square miles (395.3 km²) (or 19.50%) is water.

Major highways

  • Interstate 95
    Interstate 95 in Georgia
    Interstate 95, the main Interstate Highway on the east coast of the United States, serves the Atlantic coast of Georgia. It begins at the St. Marys River at the Florida state line north of Jacksonville and heads north past the border of South Carolina at the Savannah River...

  • U.S. Highway 17
    U.S. Route 17 in Georgia
    U.S. Route 17 in Georgia runs north–south near the Atlantic Ocean, serving Brunswick and Savannah on its path from Florida at the St. Marys River to South Carolina at the Savannah River...

  • Georgia State Route 25
  • Georgia State Route 40
  • Georgia State Route 110

Adjacent counties

  • Glynn County
    Glynn County, Georgia
    Glynn County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2000, the population was 67,568. The 2008 Census Estimate showed a population of 75,884...

     (north)
  • Nassau County
    Nassau County, Florida
    Nassau County is a county located in the state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 57,663. The U.S. Census Bureau 2008 estimate for the county was 69,835. Its county seat is Fernandina Beach, Florida....

    , Florida
    Florida
    Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

     (south)
  • Charlton County (southwest)
  • Brantley County (northwest)

Education

Camden is home to one comprehensive high school (with a separate center for ninth graders), two middle schools, nine elementary schools and an alternative school. The system serves approximately 9,600 students. The school board is run by the following members:
  • Superintendent of Schools - Dr. Will Hardin
  • Deputy Superintendent - Gary Blount
  • Assistant Superintendent - Dr. Liz Jordan


Camden County High School is the single public high school in Camden County, offering a comprehensive curriculum (9–12) with a variety of classes for both College Preparatory and Career Technology Preparatory. The high school campus is one of the largest in the state of Georgia. It consists of a main building (9-12 building) that holds eight hallways, one media center, one gymnasium, one cafeteria, and one auditorium (although not exactly connected to the high school building itself); as well as a ninth grade center that holds two additional hallways, one gymnasium, one cafeteria, and one media center. The school has also recently constructed an additional building consisting of classrooms, conference rooms, and a large weight room. The school offers AP classes and joint-enrollment with College of Coastal Georgia and the Valdosta State University
Valdosta State University
Valdosta State University, also referred to as VSU, or Valdosta State, is an American public university and is one of the two regional universities in the University System of Georgia. Valdosta State is located on a campus at the heart of the city of Valdosta...

 Kings Bay Campus. The school is part of the Georgia 5A Class. In 2003, the Wildcats won the Georgia 5A Football State Championship by defeating Valdosta High School
Valdosta High School
‎ Valdosta High School is a public high school located in Valdosta, Georgia, United States. The school colors are gold and black. The school mascot is the "Wildcat".-School:Valdosta High School serves grades 9-12 in the Valdosta City School District...

. In 2008, the Wildcats won their second 5A State Football Championship by defeating Peachtree Ridge High School. In 2009, the Wildcats won their third 5A State Football Championship by defeating Northside (Warner Robins).

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 43,664 people, 14,705 households, and 11,381 families residing in the county. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 69 people per square mile (27/km²). There were 16,958 housing units at an average density of 27 per square mile (10/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 75.04% White
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 20.11% Black
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

 or African American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 0.49% Native American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 1.01% Asian
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 0.08% Pacific Islander
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 1.37% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 1.88% from two or more races. 3.63% of the population were Hispanic
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

 or Latino
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

 of any race.

There were 14,705 households out of which 46.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.20% were married couples living together, 11.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.60% were non-families. 17.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.84 and the average family size was 3.22.

According to the 2000 Census the largest reported European ancestry groups in Camden County were: English (15.1%), German (12.7%) and Irish (10.4%).

In the county the population was spread out with 31.70% under the age of 18, 12.90% from 18 to 24, 33.90% from 25 to 44, 16.30% from 45 to 64, and 5.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 28 years. For every 100 females there were 107.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 108.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $41,056, and the median income for a family was $45,005. Males had a median income of $31,582 versus $22,104 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the county was $16,445. About 8.40% of families and 10.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.30% of those under age 18 and 15.70% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns

  • Hopewell
    Hopewell, Camden County, Georgia
    Hopewell is an unincorporated community in Camden County, Georgia, United States. It lies at an elevation of 10 feet ....

  • Kings Bay
    Kings Bay, Georgia
    Kings Bay is a small unincorporated community located at 30.804 N, 81.560 W in Camden County on the southern coast of the U.S. state of Georgia....

  • Kings Bay Base
    Kings Bay Base, Georgia
    Kings Bay Base is a census-designated place in Camden County, Georgia, United States; it is a US Navy Base. The population was 2,599 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Kings Bay Base is located at ....

  • Kingsland
    Kingsland, Georgia
    Kingsland is a city in Camden County, Georgia, United States. The population was 10,506 at the 2000 census.The City of Kingsland hosts an annual Catfish Festival on Labor Day weekend each year.-Geography:Kingsland is located at ....

  • St. Marys
    St. Marys, Georgia
    -See also:*Cumberland Island*St. Marys Historic District*St. Marys Railroad-External links:***...

  • Spring Bluff
    Spring Bluff, Georgia
    Spring Bluff is an unincorporated community in Camden County, Georgia, United States. Located at , it lies at an elevation of 20 feet ....

  • Woodbine
    Woodbine, Georgia
    Woodbine is a city in, and the county seat of, Camden County, Georgia, United States. The city is situated in the center of the county, which located in the southeast corner of the state near the Florida border, and the population was 1,218 at the 2000 census....

  • Waverly
    Waverly, Georgia
    Waverly is an unincorporated community in Camden County, Georgia, United States. Its altitude is 20 feet , and it is located at ....


See also


External links

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