What to See in Camden, United States: Free Audio Guide

Camden, New Jersey, is a Delaware River city shaped by maritime history, religious heritage, architecture, and culture. The most important things to do in Camden include visiting the USS New Jersey, exploring the Camden Waterfront, seeing Walt Whitman’s final home, and discovering historic churches and buildings. Neywo offers a free audio guide for Camden with 29 narrated places.

What to see in Camden

USS New Jersey

The USS New Jersey, known as “Big J,” is an Iowa-class battleship with a long combat history. During the Second World War, it shelled targets on Guam and Okinawa and supported aircraft-carrier operations in the Marshall Islands. It later served in the Korean War and Vietnam War, where it was the only United States battleship to provide gunfire support.

The ship was reactivated again in the 1980s, when it was modernized to carry missiles and took part in United States operations during the Lebanese Civil War. By the end of its career, the USS New Jersey had earned 19 battle and campaign stars. It was decommissioned for the last time in 1991, after a total of 21 years of service.

Adventure Aquarium

Adventure Aquarium on the Camden Waterfront focuses on marine life and freshwater habitats. Its exhibits include penguins, sea turtles, jellies, crabs, stingrays, and many other species. The aquarium is particularly known for its shark exhibit, where visitors can walk through a tunnel beneath the water and watch sharks and rays overhead.

A suspended Shark Bridge crosses above the shark tank, offering another view of the animals. The aquarium opened in 1992 as the New Jersey State Aquarium and reopened under its current name in 2005.

Freedom Mortgage Pavilion

The Freedom Mortgage Pavilion is an outdoor amphitheatre and indoor theater complex on Camden’s waterfront, beside the Delaware River and across from Philadelphia. It opened in June 1995 and has operated under several names, including BB&T Pavilion, Susquehanna Bank Center, Tweeter Center, and the E-Centre.

The venue is part of Camden’s Waterfront entertainment district and connects the riverfront with live performance and large-scale events.

Walt Whitman House

The Walt Whitman House is the modest frame home where the American poet lived from 1884 until his death in 1892. It was his final residence and the only house he personally owned. Whitman called it his “shanty” or “coop.”

Built around 1848, the house reflects the plain character of a mid-nineteenth-century working neighborhood. Inside, the collection includes Whitman’s boots, wide-brimmed hat, furnishings, writings, photographs, and the bed where he died. The original death notice, preserved from the notice placed on the front door on March 26, 1892, is among the most poignant objects in the house.

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden. The present church was built in 1864, after an earlier church completed in 1859 became too small as the parish grew with Irish immigration. It was designated a cathedral in 1937 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

Its Gothic-inspired details, arched windows, and stained glass give the stone building its distinctive appearance. The parish’s history reaches back to the mid-1700s, when Jesuit priests served local Catholics secretly because Catholic worship was banned in New Jersey.

St. Joseph Pro-Cathedral

St. Joseph Pro-Cathedral is a Catholic parish on the east side of Camden. As the pro-cathedral of the Diocese of Camden, it has an important role within the local Catholic community and the wider history of the city’s religious institutions.

Camden Shipyard and Maritime Museum

The Camden Shipyard and Maritime Museum connects the city’s maritime past with future-oriented training and opportunity. Its former museum building is the Church of Our Savior, located in the Waterfront South neighborhood.

The grounds include land once owned by the New York Shipbuilding Company, which was at one time said to have been the largest shipbuilder in the world. The building now houses the Henson Heritage and Training Center, continuing the museum’s mission while preserving the historic site.

Barnegat Lightship

The Barnegat, also known as the Barnegat Lightship, is a historic vessel associated with Camden’s maritime heritage. The United States lightship Barnegat, identified as LV-79 and WAL-506, was built in 1904 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

Newton Friends’ Meetinghouse

Newton Friends’ Meetinghouse at 808 Cooper Street remains the home of an active meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. The building was constructed in 1824 as a simple clapboard meeting house, reflecting the restrained design traditionally associated with Friends meeting houses.

Architect Wilson Eyre Jr. remodeled it in 1885 in the Queen Anne Revival style. Although that style could be elaborate, its expression here remained notably subdued. The meetinghouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

Pomona Hall

Pomona Hall is a colonial mansion with more than three centuries of history and now operates as a museum run by the Camden County Historical Society. The first building on the site was constructed in 1718, while work on the larger mansion began in 1726. Further additions followed in 1788.

The name Pomona Hall appears on Hill’s Map of Philadelphia and Environs, published in 1809. The house offers a way to see how a historic residence developed through successive stages of construction.

Macedonia African Methodist Episcopal Church

Macedonia African Methodist Episcopal Church is a historic building and a reminder of Camden’s layered religious and community history. Its presence adds another perspective to the city’s collection of churches and sacred spaces.

St. Bartholomew Roman Catholic Church

St. Bartholomew Roman Catholic Church is part of Camden’s historic religious heritage. It is also one of the narrated stops on a Neywo route connecting the city’s waterfront, civic buildings, and churches.

St. Joseph Polish Catholic Church

St. Joseph Polish Catholic Church, also known as St. Joseph’s Church, stands at 1010 Liberty Street. The historic Roman Catholic church forms part of Camden’s religious heritage and reflects the presence of different communities within the city.

Peter Pan

Peter Pan is a sculpture by George Frampton in Kensington Gardens, London. The work is included among the places narrated in the Camden audio guide.

Building at 525 Cooper Street

The Building at 525 Cooper Street, also known as the Charles S. Boyer Building, is a three-story brick structure built in 1925. Its tan brick and Mission Revival design represent Camden’s professional architecture from the 1920s, when legal and insurance offices were helping shape this part of the city.

Its listing on the National Register of Historic Places recognizes its architectural and professional significance.

Explore Camden with a self-guided audio tour

A Camden self-guided walking tour lets you discover the city without joining a group or following a fixed timetable. Neywo has two walking tours and one bus route in Camden:

• Camden’s Downtown: Whitman’s Last Home and the City Invincible — a 2.75 km walk lasting 78 minutes, with 9 narrated stops.
• Camden Waterfront: Battleship, Sharks and the Delaware — a 1.63 km walk lasting 48 minutes, with 5 narrated stops.
• NJ Transit 452: From the Port Authority to South Camden — a 9.9 km bus route lasting 42 minutes, with 8 narrated stops.

The walking routes include landmarks such as the USS New Jersey, Adventure Aquarium, Walt Whitman House, City Hall, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, and Newton Friends’ Meetinghouse. The bus route links places including the Delaware River Port Authority, the Marcouse Building, St. Bartholomew Roman Catholic Church, and Walt Whitman House.

Download the Neywo audio guide for Camden

Download Neywo to explore Camden at your own pace. The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, so you can walk without a group and without a schedule. Camden has 29 narrated places, two walking tours, and one bus route, with narration available in 11 languages.

You can also continue exploring the state with the New Jersey guide, or discover more destinations across the United States.