King Haiglar Tower

King Haiglar is often called the patron saint of Camden. From about 1750 until his murder by hostile Indians in 1763, this noble Catawba chief was a valuable friend to the pioneers of Pine Tree Hill, as Camden was then known.<br><br> Some time between 1815 and 1826, J.B. Mathieu executed this 5'1" iron effigy of King Haiglar and presented it to the town. It has stood as a weather vane at other locations since then and was placed here when the Opera House (since razed) and its tower were built in 1886.<br><br> A copy of Mathieu's likeness of King Haiglar stands atop City Hall, built in 1955.