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Created on March 29, 1860 from parts of Clinton, McKean, and Potter Counties and named for U.S. Senator Simon Cameron. [†] Emporium, the county seat, was incorporated as a borough on October 13, 1864; its name is Latin for "market" or "trade center."

The Sinnemahoning Creek and its tributaries dominate the area and the first settlers recognized the destructiveness of flooding. Farming never developed; lumber has always shaped the economy. Because of abundant stands of hemlock tanning developed. There was a serious flood in 1847, but the opening of the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad brought about the creation of the county. Overwhelming floods occurred in October 1861 and in the spring of 1889, punctuated by milder floods in 1865 and 1884. In 1884, a forest fire depleted much of the timber wealth. Cameron had only a little oil, gas, and coal, but furniture and wood product industries arose. In the twentieth century, the Sylvania Corporation, manufacturers of radio tubes and electrical products, was born in Emporium. High quality flagstone has been quarried, and explosives were manufactured there in the 1930s. Emporium was an Underground Railroad station and for a time the home of the eccentric Claflin sisters, spiritualists and friends of Horace Greeley. The Civil War Bucktails Regiment of sharpshooters was raised there, and there are many legends about rattlesnakes and hunters' exploits. Movie cowboy actor Tom Mix was born on Mix Run. Over half the land is in state parks and game lands; only 1 percent is farmed. Lumber is still a major product, and there is thriving activity in tool and die works and pressed metals.

† The Counties of Pennsylvania, www.phmc.state.us, accessed September, 2021.