Extending along High Street (United States Route 1), the district has maintained its character since the 1920s, despite encroaching commercialization of nearby areas, and retains a cross-section of architecture of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989, and enlarged in 1999 to include the Olmsted Brothers-designed Harbor Park at Main and Atlantic.

[1] The town of Camden is located on the west side of Penobscot Bay in the Mid Coast area of Maine.

[2] United States Route 1 is the primary road through the community, passing through the commercial center at the river and continuing north toward Belfast.

The area immediately north of the river was initially farmland, but was developed over time as the town's economy grew over the course of the 19th century, transitioning from a fishing and shipbuilding community, to one that is based mainly on tourism.