Camden, Arkansas

Camden is a small city in southern Arkansas and the seat of government of Ouachita County. It is located near the Ouachita River and was formerly the location of a large paper mill.

The population of Camden declined by 7.4 percent between 2000 and 2010. The 2010 tabulation, 12,183, represents a decrease of 971 from 2000. Camden is 56 percent African American. A large missile plant is located east of the city.

A former governor of Arkansas, Benjamin Travis Laney, was the mayor of Camden in the 1930s. The city is the hometown of former Governor and former U.S. Senator David Pryor. U.S. Senator John McClellan also lived in Camden, where he practiced law from 1939 to 1943. Pryor lost the 1972 primary election to McClellan but then won the seat himself in 1978, a year after McClellan's death in office.

The Camden News is the original flagship publication of the media conglomerate WEHCO, established by Clyde E. Palmer and his son-in-law, Walter E. Hussman, Sr. The company is now operated by Walter E. Hussman, Jr.

A technical campus of Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia is located in Camden.