October 29, 2011

The location of Camden (Ouachita County) on the Ouachita River facilitated the town’s development as a trade center since its settlement in the early 1800s. By the 1850s, Camden was a major port for river traffic, with as many as 40,000 bales of cotton shipped by water every year. Such traffic continued until the early part of the twentieth century, when rail service began to reduce river trade. The steamboat City of Camden is shown here in 1894, docked at Camden and loaded with cotton.