Decorative drawing: a small American settlement seen from a low hill. Not a photograph of this place.

Camden, Ohio

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1911 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Somers Township. It lies in ZIP code area 45311. It stands on Trippetts Branch. The Survey maps it on the Eaton South quadrangle. 1,989 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 837 feet above sea level.

Camden within Preble County

Population over time

2 figures

Camden fell from 2,046 to 1,989 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

Year	People	Change
2010	2,046
2020	1,989	-57 (-3%)

Then and now

1911 to 1986

The same ground, surveyed 75 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Camden, surveyed 1986

Topographic sheet of Camden, surveyed 1911

Compare 1911 against another survey:

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

In the county-history sources

3,802 words on this township

History of Preble County Ohio: Her People, Industries and Institutions, published 1915 names this settlement in its chapter on Somers Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

Beasleys branch has its source in Gasper township and also has cut its way across an intercepting ridge in its course of some three miles to its out- let in Seven-Mile creek, about a half mile north of Camden. In its course it falls some one hundred and sixty feet, which of course, would indicate rough land, until it breaks through the ridge, but not so rough or as large an area of rough land as the other two streams. Seven-Mile creek flows across the township near the middle line, and drains the entire township. From the hilltops on either side of Seven-Mile can be seen long vistas of the valley, affording some of the finest, if not the finest, pastoral scenery in the county.

Passage source: History of Preble County Ohio: Her People, Industries and Institutions, published 1915.

One of the first settlers was David E. Hendrix, who, in 1803, settled on the land where Camden is now located and began chopping out a farm. There was born George D. Hendrix, who claimed to be the first boy bom in the county. In 1806 David Hendrix sold out and moved to Eaton, where he resided the rest of his life.

Passage source: History of Preble County Ohio: Her People, Industries and Institutions, published 1915.

Thomas Newton and John Newton, William Irwin and Abram Irwin, Matthew McClung and Elisha Carter all came in 1803, or the early part of 1804, and about the same time came William More, who laid out the town of Camden, and died there in 1833. In 1805 Isaac Sutton settled near Camden and John Lamm in the south part of the township. John Zimmerman also arrived in 1805 and in the same year William Stubbs settled in section 36. John Wright came in 1806 and settled near the south line of the township. The Wrights of Israel township are his descendants. Thomas Mur- ray also came in 1806, and in the same year John Llewellyn settled on Paint creek. George Hanger arrived in 1808. Only a year or two later George and Giles Davis settled in section 12. John K. Steele and Philip Llewellyn arrived in 1810. During the next four or five years, Richard Stephen, William S. Douglas, Samuel Fowler, Charles Beall, William Bennett, John Reeve, Michael Dillman, George Hornaday, Stephen Payne and Allen Hubbard all became settlers in the township.

Passage source: History of Preble County Ohio: Her People, Industries and Institutions, published 1915.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Somers Township - it names this place 16 more 16 times.

Photographs

1 photograph,

Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.

Roberts Bridge, Old Camden Pike, Spanning Seven Mile Creek, Eaton, Preble County, OH
Unattributed, . Library of Congress

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 860 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 860 specimens collected within 10 miles of Camden between 1877 and 1975: 600 Animalia, 168 Fungi, 87 Plantae, 5 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by ?, A.L.; Bucholtz, I., A.R. Gaufin, H.H. Ross and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Species	Year	Collected by	Where, as recorded
Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.	1877	Matthes,B.	USA, Ohio, Hamilton County, Camden
Phyllosticta Pers., 1818	1901	W.A. Kellerman
Puccinia circaeae Pers.	1901	W. A. Kellerman
Ramularia armoraciae Fuckel	1890	Elliott E. N.	Morning Sun
Uria lomvia lomvia (Linnaeus, 1758)	1896	Stewart, R. T. (Robert T.)	Israel Twp, Fairhaven, Preble, Ohio, USA
Septoria oenotherae Westend.	1901	W. A. Kellerman
Uromyces ari-triphylli (Schwein.) Seeler	1901	W. A. Kellerman	West Alexandria
Bryum pseudotriquetrum (Hedw.) G.Gaertn., B.Mey. & Scherb.	1909	Braun, E. Lucy	Hueston Woods, east of Talawanda Creek
Bulgaria rufa Schwein.	1909	Fink, V.; Steven, W. G.	In Houston's Woods [sic; Hueston Woods State Park, Butler and Preble counties].
Campylium hispidulum (Brid.) Mitt.	1909	Braun, E. Lucy	Hueston Woods
Cenangium ferruginosum Fr.	1909	Bruce Fink
Cladonia furcata (Huds.) Schrad., 1794	1909	Braun, E. Lucy	Hueston Woods State Park

All 860 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Camden: 1 past producer, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where	Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
	Camden Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary
	Wysons Gravel Co.	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer

Every working recorded in Preble County

Storms near this place

31 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Camden in 31 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 16 thunderstorm wind, 6 hail, 6 flash flood, 3 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
March 2020	Flash Flood	Camden	$50,000	High water from Sevenmile Creek forced the evacuation of a trailer park.
June 2003	Flash Flood	Camden	$50,000	Ten to fifteen families were evacuated from a trailer park in town. Several homes sustained basement flooding.
July 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Camden	$40,000	Several trees were downed across the central portions of Preble County, including a few that fell onto houses.
May 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Camden	$15,000	The roof was peeled off of a barn. Several trees were also knocked down.
December 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Camden	$10,000	Multiple trees were knocked down across Preble County, including near the intersection of Ohio Route 725 and Upper Somers Road.
June 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Camden	$10,000	One home had its roof peeled off by the thunderstorm winds.
July 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Camden	$10,000	Numerous trees downed.
April 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Camden	$7,000	A house and barn sustained roof and siding damage. Power poles were knocked down.
April 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Camden	$6,000	Several trees were knocked down on State Route 725.
December 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Camden	$4,000	A large tree fell onto a house.
July 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Camden	$3,000	A few trees were downed along Dillman Road.
March 2007	Flood	Camden	$3,000	Several roads were covered by high water across the southern part of the county. High water signs were posted.
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Camden	$3,000	Trees and powerlines were knocked down.
April 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Camden	$3,000	Large limbs and a few trees were downed in Heuston Woods State Park.
November 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Camden	$2,000	Large limbs were blown down across an access road in Hueston Woods State Park.
June 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Camden	$2,000	Two trees were knocked down on area roadways.
March 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Camden	$1,000	A large tree was downed.
February 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Camden	$1,000	A pole was downed on North Liberty Street.
May 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Camden	$1,000	A tree was downed in the Camden area.
July 2024	Flash Flood	Camden	-	Dillman Road was closed due to high water.
March 2022	Flood	Camden	-	County Road 227 was closed due to high water between State Route 744 and Swann Beatty Road.
June 2021	Flash Flood	Camden	-	Portions of State Route 725 were impassable due to more than one foot of water running over the roadway. High water was also reported on Sugar Valley Drive and near Dillman Road.
March 2020	Flash Flood	Camden	-	Several roads remained closed due to ongoing high water.
July 2017	Flood	Camden	-	High water was reported on State Route 725.
June 2003	Flash Flood	Camden	-	High water over numerous roads in the southwestern part of the county.
April 1998	Hail	Camden	-	Hail accumulated to 1 inch depth during a thunderstorm.
April 2018	Hail	Camden	-	no account filed
September 2012	Hail	Camden	-	no account filed
April 2011	Hail	Camden	-	no account filed
May 2011	Hail	Camden	-	no account filed
April 1995	Hail	Camden	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Preble County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Quail Trail	1.9 miles	11
Muttonville	2.8 miles	11
Fosterville	2.9 miles	11
Lake Lakengren	4.7 miles	11
Morning Sun	5.2 miles	11
Sugar Valley	5.5 miles	11
Wheatville	5.6 miles	10
West Elkton	5.7 miles	9

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on Camden	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2668408	The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1056756. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.