Photography at Camp Nelson | Kentucky Studies

Today, Camp Nelson in Jessamine County is known for its national military cemetery in a scenic rural location. But during the Civil War, Camp Nelson was one of largest recruitment and training centers for African-American soldiers for the Union Army. With 8,000 to 10,000 soldiers, 3,000 civilians, and at the war’s end 3,000 refugees, it had all kinds of merchants needed to supply a city. Recently, archaeologists discovered evidence of a photo studio on the site.