Camden City Hall is the house of government for the City of Camden and Camden County in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. At , it is the tallest building in Camden and the tallest building within the

Philadelphia metropolitan area Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since 1 ...

outside of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Building

The city hall was designed by Byron Edwards and Alfred Green, architectural partners who moved from Philadelphia to Camden in 1928, and its materials were supplied by the

Otis Elevator Company Otis Worldwide Corporation (trade name, branded as the Otis Elevator Company, its former legal name) is an American company that develops, manufactures and markets elevators, escalators, moving walkways, and related equipment. Based in Farming ...

. The building features a slender tower rising from a massive base, and its facade is composed of light gray granite. At the top of the tower is a large clock, consistent with a Camden tradition of city hall clocks begun in 1876.

Old City Hall

Camden's first city hall was built in 1876 at the corner of Benson Street and Haddon Avenue, where present day

Cooper University Hospital Cooper University Hospital is a teaching hospital and biomedical research facility located in Camden, New Jersey. The hospital formerly served as a clinical campus of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the University of Medicine and Dentistry ...

(Kelemen Pavilion at 1 Cooper Plaza) is located. The building featured a clock tower and was demolished in 1930.

Quotations

The south face of the tower bears the engraving "In a dream I saw a city invincible,"Camden City Hall
Waymarking.com. 13 December 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2012. an excerpt from the poem "I Dream'd in a Dream" by

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among t ...

and the current motto of Camden. The front of the building has the phrase "No Legacy is so Rich as Honesty", a line from ''

All's Well that Ends Well ''All's Well That Ends Well'' is a play by William Shakespeare, published in the ''First Folio'' in 1623, where it is listed among the comedies. There is a debate regarding the dating of the composition of the play, with possible dates rangin ...

'' by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. The front also bears the inscription "Where There is no Vision the People Perish", a quote from

Proverbs A proverb (from la, proverbium) is a simple and insightful, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and use formulaic speech, formulaic language. A proverbial phra ...

29:18 of the

King James Bible The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...

.Proverbs 29:18
Biblos.com. Retrieved 27 May 2012.

References

External links

City of CamdenCamden City Hall at emporis.comCamden City Hall at skyscraperpage.com
{{Camden, New Jersey Buildings and structures in Camden, New Jersey Government buildings completed in 1931 Clock towers in New Jersey Skyscrapers in New Jersey Skyscraper office buildings in New Jersey City and town halls in New Jersey Neoclassical architecture in New Jersey

Building

Old City Hall

Quotations

See also

References

External links