Kershaw-Cornwallis House – Camden Revolutionary War Site
Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008The Kershaw-Cornwallis House was originally built in 1777 by an early settler of Camden. (Camden, in fact, is the oldest inland town in South Carolina.) Joseph Kershaw had established a store in Camden for a Charleston mercantile company and did quite well. In fact, Camden had become an inland trade hub of sorts by 1768. The House was confiscated or seized by the British in 1780 when Lord Cornwallis setup a headquarters in the house. The British occupied it until 1781. Joseph Kershaw lived there until his death in 1791. The family sold the house by 1805 and it served as home for the Camden Orphan Society until 1822. In the Civil War, Camden House was a confederate storehouse and was destroyed in 1865. The house was rebuilt in 1877 at the Camden Revolutionary War Site.
