The Gandangara and Benkennie
The land that became Camden lay at the northern edge of country belonging to the Gandangara, whose home was the Southern Highlands. They called the place Benkennie, a name given as 'dry land'. The Muringong, the southernmost group of the Darug, lived north of the Nepean River, while the Tharawal were to the east.
They lived in extended family groups that numbered between 20 and 40 people. They hunted kangaroos, possums and eels, and collected yams and seasonal fruit and vegetables from the area. They were said to be 'short, stocky, strong and superbly built', and were generally seen as peaceful. As British settlers took more of their land and cut back the food they could gather, the Indigenous people of the area turned to armed resistance. The resistance ended in 1816, when a massacre killed many of them.
Cowpastures and Camden Park
Explorers first came to the area in 1795. They gave it the name 'Cowpastures', because cattle that had gone missing were found there. In February 1805 Governor King instructed a surveyor, apparently with reluctance, to measure 5,000 acres at Cowpastures for John Macarthur. Lord Camden had promised Macarthur the land.
Macarthur named the property Camden Park, after his sponsor. As the wool industry grew, local people pressed for a town to be established in the area to support it. The Surveyor-General, Major Thomas Mitchell, suggested that Macarthur give up 320 acres of his land for that purpose, and he refused.
The town of Camden
After Macarthur died in 1834, his children chose to divide the estate, and the first lots of the new town went on sale in 1840. The town's post office began on 1 May 1841, a day after the Elderslie office, open since 1839, shut.
By 1883 the population had passed 300, and residents began to push for a local council. The council met for the first time in 1889. Camden was the administrative centre of the Camden Council area until July 2016, and the town is part of the Macarthur region.
Heritage and the Camden Show
Camden Post Office at 135 Argyle Street is on the Commonwealth Heritage List. Places on the New South Wales State Heritage Register include Camden Park House and Garden and Camden Park Estate and Belgenny Farm, both on Elizabeth Macarthur Avenue, Macquarie Grove on Aerodrome Road, Nant Gwylan and Garden on Exeter Street, and the St Johns Anglican Church precinct, which incorporates St John's Anglican Church on Menangle Road.
The Camden Show is held each year and brings together amusement park attractions and the features of a state fair. Three local radio stations serve the town, 2MCR, Vintage FM and C91.3FM, and Sydney station Gold 101.7 reaches Camden on 88.3 FM through a translator. The town's papers include the Camden Advertiser. The District Reporter also serves the area, as does the Macarthur Chronicle.