{{Short description|City hall of Camden, New Jersey, U.S.}} {{distinguish|Camden Town Hall}} {{Use American English|date=August 2025}} {{Infobox building |name = Camden City Hall |image = Camden City Hall, Front View.jpg |image_size = 250px |caption = A frontal view of City Hall from Roosevelt Plaza Park facing eastward |architectural_style = Neoclassicism |architect = Edwards and Green |construction_start_date = 1929 |completion_date = 1931 |location = 520 Market Street<br>Camden, NJ 08102 |coordinates = {{coord|39|56|41|N|75|7|12|W|display=inline}} |height = {{convert|371|ft|abbr=on}} |floor_count = 18 |status = Complete }}
'''Camden City Hall''' is the house of government for the City of Camden and Camden County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. At {{convert|371|ft}} it is the tallest building in Camden, the tallest municipal building in New Jersey, and the tallest building within the Philadelphia metropolitan area outside of Philadelphia itself. In November 2012, Camden County renamed the building Melvin R. Primas Jr. City Hall after Randy Primas, the city's first Black mayor who served from 1981 through 1990.<ref>{{cite web |title=Camden City Hall named after Randy Primas |url=https://whyy.org/articles/camden-city-hall-named-after-randy-primas/ |website=whyy.org |publisher=WHYY |access-date=28 August 2025 |date=November 13, 2012}}</ref>
==Building== thumb|left|A view of the top of City Hall in Camden, NJ thumb|The two bronze reliefs featured on the back of Camden's city hall The city hall was designed by Byron Edwards and Alfred Green, architectural partners who studied at the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design in Philadelphia, then moved from Philadelphia to Camden in 1928; its materials were supplied by the Otis Elevator Company and it was constructed between 1929 and 1931.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Nicar |first=Jim |title = The Two Towers? |journal = The Alcalde |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IOMDAAAAMBAJ |year = 2007 |volume = 96 |issue = 1 |pages=40–42 |publisher = Emmis Communications |issn = 1535-993X |access-date=29 Aug 2025}}</ref> It features a slender 18-story tower rising from a massive six-story base, and its facade is composed of light gray granite.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tobia |first1=Darren |title=These City Hall Buildings Have an Important Place in New Jersey's History |url=https://jerseydigs.com/city-hall-buildings-new-jersey-history/ |website=jerseydigs.com |publisher=Jersey Digs |access-date=28 August 2025 |date=November 22, 2022}}</ref> The building's architecture is described by the New Jersey Historic Trust as "restrained Art-Deco style" while The Philadelphia Inquirer called it neoclassical.<ref>{{cite web |title=Camden City Hall |url=https://www.nj.gov/dca/njht/funded/sitedetails/camdencityhall.shtml |website=nj.gov |publisher=New Jersey Historic Trust |access-date=28 August 2025 |date=2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Gambardello |first1=Joseph |title=Camden City Hall to be named for former Mayor Melvin 'Randy' Primas |url=https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/new_jersey/20121110_Camden_City_Hall_to_be_named_for_former_Mayor_Melvin__Randy__Primas.html |website=inquirer.com |publisher=The Philadelphia Inquirer |access-date=28 August 2025 |date=November 10, 2012}}</ref>
At the top of the tower is a large clock, consistent with a Camden tradition of city hall featuring a clock that began in 1876.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=17151 |title= Camden City Hall, Camden |year=2012 |work=SkyscraperPage| accessdate=27 May 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.emporis.com/building/camdencityhall-camden-nj-usa |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140727100445/http://www.emporis.com/building/camdencityhall-camden-nj-usa |url-status= usurped |archive-date= July 27, 2014 |title= Camden City Hall, Camden |year=2012 |work=Emporis| accessdate=27 May 2012}}</ref>
The front of City Hall's base is inscribed with the aphorisms "Knowledge is power"<ref>{{cite web |last1=Akst |first1=Daniel |title=CAMDEN IS DOWN, BUT FAR FROM OUT |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/10/nyregion/camden-is-down-but-far-from-out.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=31 August 2025 |date=May 10, 1981}}</ref> and "Right makes might"<ref>{{cite web |last1=Trethan |first1=Phaedra |title=Camden Lunchbox kiosk gets new life as a soup, sandwich and smoothie stop |url=https://www.courierpostonline.com/story/news/2022/01/07/lunch-to-go-coming-camden-lunchbox-kiosk-soup-sandwiches-and-smoothies-darrell-gaffin-arts-yard/9093092002/ |website=courierpostonline.com |publisher=Courier Post |access-date=31 August 2025 |date=January 7, 2022}}</ref> while the back facade bears the lines "Reason is the life of law" (attributed to Edward Coke) and "No Legacy is so Rich as Honesty" from All's Well that Ends Well.<ref>[http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/25248.html William Shakespeare - No legacy is so rich as honesty], The Quotations Page. Retrieved 27 May 2012.</ref> Likewise, the north side wall reads "Where There is no Vision the People Perish," a quote from Proverbs 29:18 of the King James Bible,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Creech |first1=Russell |title=Time to change the Senate line-up |url=https://www.nj.com/cumberland/voices/2012/10/time_to_change_the_senate_line.html |website=nj.com |access-date=31 August 2025 |date=October 6, 2012}}</ref><ref>[http://bible.cc/proverbs/29-18.htm Proverbs 29:18], Biblos.com. Retrieved 27 May 2012.</ref> while the south side wall is engraved with "In a dream I saw a city invincible,"<ref>{{cite web |title=Hope and despair in New Jersey's beleaguered city |url=https://www.burlingtoncountytimes.com/story/news/2011/03/20/hope-despair-in-new-jersey/17306307007/ |website=burlingtoncountytimes.com |publisher=Burlington County Times |access-date=31 August 2025 |date=March 20, 2011}}</ref> which is an excerpt from the poem "I Dream'd in a Dream" by Walt Whitman as well as the current motto of Camden.<ref>{{cite web |title=Committee Meeting of SENATE SELECT COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC GROWTH STRATEGIES |url=https://dspace.njstatelib.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/efd3d768-773c-470e-a28c-e6350914497d/content |website=dspace.njstatelib.org |publisher=State of New Jersey |access-date=31 August 2025 |date=September 23, 2019}}</ref><ref name="Waymarking">[http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM7WGD_1929_Camden_City_Hall_Camden_NJ Camden City Hall]. Waymarking.com. 13 December 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2012.</ref>
At each side of the base's back there is a 20' x 15' bronze relief, both created in 1930 by E. Vonhebel. The north side relief depicts an early, pre-industrial Camden County with nude figures interpreted as Adam and Eve, whereas the south side relief portrays an industrialized Camden with dense buildings, the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, and City Hall itself visible.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Blair |first1=Katherine |title=Camden: City Hall Reliefs |url=https://vmpa.camden.rutgers.edu/2013/05/camden-city-hall-reliefs/ |website=vmpa.camden.rutgers.edu |publisher=Rutgers-Camden |access-date=28 August 2025 |date=May 14, 2013}}</ref> thumb|left|A view of the flags in front of City Hall in Camden, NJ Roosevelt Park is situated in front of City Hall, to its west. In December 2025 Camden received a $5.7 million grant from the New Jersey EDA, allocating $1.1 million to Roosevelt Park for landscaping, additional outdoor seating, and a food stand occupied by rotating vendors.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Fazelpoor |first1=Matthew |title=NJEDA backs Camden with $5.7M for parks, community |url=https://njbiz.com/njeda-5-7m-camden-parks-community/ |website=njbiz.com |publisher=NJ BIZ |access-date=3 February 2026 |date=October 2, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Borowski |first1=Neill |title=Roosevelt Park at Camden City Hall to Be Beautified in the Spring With State Grant |url=https://www.tapinto.net/towns/camden/sections/green/articles/roosevelt-park-at-camden-city-hall-to-be-beautified-in-the-spring-with-state-grant |website=tapinto.net |publisher=TAPinto Camden |access-date=3 February 2026 |date=December 11, 2025}}</ref> The back of City Hall was bounded by the county's Aletha R. Wright Administration Building until 2023 when it was demolished; the site was replaced by a second park in May 2024.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Borowski |first1=Neill |title=Camden City Hall Gets a New Green Neighbor at its Back Door |url=https://www.tapinto.net/towns/camden/sections/green/articles/camden-city-hall-gets-a-new-green-neighbor-at-its-back-door |website=tapinto.net |publisher=TAPinto Camden |access-date=3 February 2026 |date=May 30, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Walsh |first1=Jim |title=Big change expected for downtown scene in Camden |url=https://www.courierpostonline.com/story/news/local/south-jersey/sj-icons/2023/02/20/aletha-r-wright-building-facing-demolition-in-camden/69905021007/ |website=courierpostonline.com |publisher=Courier Post |access-date=3 February 2026 |date=February 20, 2023}}</ref>
The design of Camden City Hall has been linked to the University of Texas at Austin's Main Building tower: there are stylistic similarities; that building's architect, Paul Cret, had been a lecturer at the school where Green and Edwards, City Hall's architects, studied; and Cret lived in nearby Philadelphia while designing the UT tower in the early 1930s.<ref>{{cite web |title=How "Texan" is the UT Tower? |url=https://jimnicar.com/tag/camden/ |website=jimnicar.com |publisher=The UT History Corner |access-date=31 August 2025 |date=March 23, 2013}}</ref>
==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 (Kelemen Pavilion at 1 Cooper Plaza) is located.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dvrbs.com/people/CamdenPeople-EnochAllenWard.htm|title=Camden People - Enoch Allen Ward|website=www.dvrbs.com}}</ref> The building featured a clock tower and was demolished in 1930.
==See also== *List of tallest buildings in Camden
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.ci.camden.nj.us/ City of Camden] *{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20140727100445/http://www.emporis.com/building/camdencityhall-camden-nj-usa Camden City Hall at emporis.com]}} *[http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=17151 Camden City Hall at skyscraperpage.com]
{{Camden, New Jersey}}
Category:Buildings and structures in Camden, New Jersey Category:Government buildings completed in 1931 Category:Clock towers in New Jersey Category:Skyscraper office buildings in New Jersey Category:City and town halls in New Jersey Category:Neoclassical architecture in New Jersey