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History · Cameron

Cameron’s post office opened in 1888, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Cameron was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Its Register listing is the James E. Reynolds House. Its Register listing is the James E. Reynolds House. Below: maps from 1899 on and the census since 1900.

1888first post office
1on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Cameron began

When was Cameron founded?

1888

The Cameron post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 316 in 19002020 census: 323138 years
Founding year: the first Cameron post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Cameron’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Cameron are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19004 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1978. Watch Cameron change.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1899 to 1913, drew every building in Cameron.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cameron’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cameron’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Cameron on the map, 1900 to 1978

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cameron. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Cameron on the 1900 USGS mapCameron on the 1911 USGS mapCameron on the 1968 USGS mapCameron on the 1978 USGS map1900Sallisaw sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Cameron.

Every building

Cameron, building by building, 1899–1913

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Cameron fire insurance map, 1899, sheet 11899Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Cameron came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cameron.

Read it all →

When the Fort Smith and Southern Railway laid tracks in the area of the present day town of Cameron in 1886–87, there was already a settlement of about 40 people. At the time of its founding, Cameron was located in Skullyville County, a part of the Moshulatubbee District of the Choctaw Nation. The U. S. Post Office Department established a post office that it named Cameron, Indian Territory in 1888.

According to Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, the post office and town may have been named for either of two persons. One was William Cameron, a former Mine Inspector for Indian Territory. The other was James Cameron, an employee of the Fort Smith and Southern Railway.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Cameron, 1888 to 1900

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1888Post officeThe Cameron post office opens
  3. 1890BuiltJames E. Reynolds House is built
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Cameron, decade by decade

Today4 recent
KCS 2828, Cameron, Oklahoma - October 20242024KCS 2828, Cameron, Oklahoma - October 2024Cameron, Oklahoma2024Cameron, OklahomaWilliams School2018Williams SchoolOKMap-doton-Cameron2004OKMap-doton-Cameron
On the National Register

1 historic place in Cameron

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1977
James E. Reynolds House
James E. Reynolds House, built 1890
Buildings
James E. Reynolds HouseBuilt 1890

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Cameron, census by census

01002003004001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 365

Between 203 and 365 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cameron’s Wikipedia page.

Questions about Cameron’s history

What year was Cameron founded?

The Cameron post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Cameron?

One place: the James E. Reynolds House (listed 1977).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (4), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.